The Shooting Star Project [Peaked #14]

Trinitrotoluene

young ☆nd foolish
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Table of Contents:
  • [jump=intro]Introduction[/jump]
  • [jump=build]Team Building[/jump]
  • [jump=import]Importable[/jump]
  • [jump=detail]The Team in Detail[/jump]
    • [jump=landshark]Garchomp[/jump]
    • [jump=weasel]Weavile[/jump]
    • [jump=sea_star]Starmie[/jump]
    • [jump=bell]Bronzong[/jump]
    • [jump=f*ckin'_magnet]Magnezone[/jump]
    • [jump=cube]Kyurem-B[/jump]
  • [jump=closing]Closing Comments[/jump]
[a]intro[/a]
Hey Smogon! Many of my recent teams (Deep Sea of Mare, Girl in the Fire, Optical Overload) have centered themselves around the power of weather conditions and the sweepers associated with them. Recently, I've been delving into various forms of weatherless offense, ranging from VoltTurn spam to teams of choice. I've encountered problems with each of those playstyles, and I've been forced back to the drawing board each time. However, a proverbial angel descended from Ubers in the form of Black Kyurem, who boasted the most powerful Outrage in the game. One look at it, and I knew I had to create a team that abused its frightening power to the limit. I created quite a few variants of this team, using Pokemon ranging from hazard support utilitymons like Deoxys-D to trappers like Gothitelle, but it just didn't click for me. Then, I decided to simplify the constructs of the team and use some UU Pokemon that could exploit the current state of the OU metagame. Afterwards, the pieces of the puzzle fell together, and with the team assembled, I climbed up the OU ladder. I eventually peaked at #14 on Showdown's OU ladder under the alt Shōgo Kitsukawa. I've also used this team to win every OU mini-tournament I've entered (aside from the one where I had to drop out of because of errands). Again, I know that ladder ratings and mini-tour victories are not needed to prove a team's success, but I don't ladder that often, so this is a large accomplishment for me.

The concept behind this team is DragMag offense, so obviously there are going to be many similarities to other DragMag teams posted, since they share many of the same game-winning elements. For instance, this team bears many similarities to PK Gaming's and JabbaTheGriffin's Enter the Dragon, in its use of a powerful Banded Dragon (in my team Kyu-B, in their team Haxorus), Garchomp, Magnezone (although the actual sets differ), and an Ice-type to snipe opposing dragons (Weavile for me, Mamoswine for them). Just like any other DragMag offense team, the game plan is simple. Spam Outrage until a Steel-type is encountered. From there, use Mag to trap and KO the aforementioned steel. Start spamming Outrage again. Annoying physical wall not named Skarmory impeding the progress of the team? Use Mag or another special sweeper to open up even more holes so Outrage can break past their team.

This paragraph is just dedicated to flavor descriptions, so if you want to move onto the substance of this rate, go on ahead and skip it. For those of you out of the loop, this team borrows its name from The Shooting Star Project (ZERO MIX), the name of chapter 518 of Bleach, and the names of the individual Pokemon themselves are the names of various tracks from Pendulum. Weavile's name came from "Ulterior Motive," the track found on the AA side of their "Spiral" EP, and Garchomp, Kyurem-B, and Bronzong drew their names from "Streamline," "Slam," and "Another Planet," the twelfth, second, and thirteenth tracks found in Hold Your Colour, released in 2005. Magnezone got its name from the "Axle Grinder," the fourteenth track in the 2007 re-issue of Hold Your Colour, which replaced "Another Planet" and "Still Grey" with "Blood Sugar" and "Axle Grinder" respectively. Starmie got its name from "Watercolour," the third track of Pendulum's Immersion album. With those descriptions done, let us move onto the team building process.
[a]build[/a]



Ah, Bronzong, Garchomp, and Weavile. One of the most underrated cores in existence. This core, which originated in Forget About Us?, an RMT by Katakiri, is equipped to deal with most of the OU metagame. Bronzong can wall most of the OU tier, thanks to its auspicious typing, incredible defenses, and Levitate. In addition, its pitiful speed allows it to use Gyro Ball at max power against most of OU. Garchomp is fast, powerful, and bulky, and thanks to its new-found access to Rough Skin, it can also punish Pokemon that rely on contact moves to revenge kill it. Weavile is Weavile, and can actually use the release of Techniloom and the Therians to its advantage.



Of course, Skarmory and Bronzong wall Garchomp and Weavile to the ends of the earth and back, so a means of eliminating them is needed. I decided to use Magnezone, since most Skarmory these days opt not to run Shed Shell, making their elimination just a matter of baiting them in with one of either Garchomp, Weavile, or another teammate. Magnezone also gives the team a weapon to use against rain teams that lack Thundurus-T, since nothing important likes switching into Electric-type moves.



Fighting-types sucked for this team to face down. To help beat them down, I decided to employ another underrated Pokemon: Alakazam. With Focus Sash and Magic Guard, it could serve as a nearly perfect revenge killer and special sweeper, eliminating walls and tormenting those that could torment Garchomp and Weavile. It could also serve as an early-game cleaner if the need to do so arose. It also works well with Magnezone, since it lures Scizor in like nothing else in OU, only for it to get trapped in the clutches of Magnezone.



Finally, I needed to find a last member of the team. Taking note that Kyurem-B dropped from Ubers a few months back, I decided now was the time to try it out. It looks stupid to pick a Pokemon that lacks good defensive synergy with the rest of the team, but in practice, it works extremely well. Kyurem-B can destroy the Pokemon that wall the rest of the team, and with Garchomp, it forms a deadly Dragon spam combo. Magnezone works well with it since most people on the ladder won't think twice about switching their bulky, slow steels in to sponge an Outrage, only to get locked into place and shot apart by Magnezone.



So, the team was working well, but I didn't like how Stealth Rock ate at the durability of Kyurem-B and Weavile, members that play very important roles for the team. Alakazam was the weakest link, and it didn't do much that Garchomp and Weavile couldn't already do for themselves, so I decided to change it to Starmie, which provides valuable spin support, while maintaining many of Alakazam's good traits, namely its lightning-fast speed and powerful STAB moves. This is the variant of The Shooting Star Project that peaked at #14 on the OU ladder.
[a]import[/a]
HTML:
Streamline (Garchomp) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Dual Chop

Ulterior Motive (Weavile) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
- Night Slash
- Low Kick

Watercolour (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin

Another Planet (Bronzong) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 84 Def / 92 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 2 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake

Axle Grinder (Magnezone) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 144 HP / 252 SAtk / 112 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Volt Switch
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon

Slam (Kyurem-Black) @ Choice Band
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt
- Dragon Claw
- Sleep Talk


[a]detail[/a]
[a]landshark[/a]


[BOX]There's a reason Garchomp went to Ubers, and it's not just because of Sand Veil. In addition to having one of the most rage-inducing abilities, it's fast, bulky, and powerful, all excellent traits to pack in one Pokemon. Now, with the loss of Sand Veil, Garchomp descended to OU for Round 2 of dominance. However, the addition of the Lati twins to OU, as well as Terrakion and Keldeo, two of the four Swords of Justice, have done well to curb its dominant streak. Regardless of its faults, I decided to use it. The next question after picking Garchomp was "Which seat can I take set should I use?" The answer for me was to use its Scarf set. While it may be weaker than other Garchomp variants, it exercised what I thought were Garchomp's best traits: its great speed tier and impressive physical strength. With a Choice Scarf, Garchomp is faster than a +1 Naive Salamence and Timid Volcarona, allowing it to serve as a revenge killer. The Scarf set also allows Garchomp to serve as a great late-game sweeper.

Now, you might be thinking, why not use Salamence? It's nearly as fast, has a better specially-based movepool, Special Attack stat, and ability in the form of Moxie, which lets it clean up better than Garchomp can. For one, Garchomp resists Stealth Rock, giving it more switches than Salamence could get on its own, and an effective immunity to Sandstorm damage, granting it much more longevity than Salamence. Garchomp also has access to Dual Chop, allowing it to beat Pokemon that abuse Substitute, namely SubCM Latias and Gengar. Also, Garchomp gets Rough Skin, which allows it to punish those Scarf Terrakion that try to revenge kill it with Close Combat.

The moves and EV spread couldn't be any more simple. Outrage smashes faces in, and Earthquake does the same without locking Garchomp into a move and confusing it in the end. Fire Fang lets Garchomp KO Scizor on its own, which is important since Garchomp can actually live through a +2 LO Scizor's Bullet Punch and OHKO with Fire Fang. I used to use Stone Edge over Fire Fang to revenge kill Volcarona and Thundurus-T without being forced to use Outrage, but Scizor started being a prick to the rest of my team, necessitating the change. Dual Chop is Garchomp's alternate Dragon STAB, and as mentioned earlier, it's used to break Substitutes set up by its opponent. Dual Chop also gives Garchomp a Dragon STAB move to use that doesn't bring with it the repercussion of being locked into a single move. The EV spread is simple. Attack and Speed are maximized, and the last 4 EVs are tossed into HP.

Despite being tossed into the lead position, I never lead with Garchomp. Doing so would just be stupid. Garchomp isn't strong enough to break apart teams in the early game. The breaking of teams is generally left to Kyurem-B and Weavile, both of which exhibit more strength than Garchomp thanks to raw stats (for the former) and a boosting item (for the latter). Garchomp tends to be brought out in the mid-game, when something that needs to be shut down is on the field. Garchomp is also used to end the game off if I have nothing better to end it with. Overall, Garchomp is the most important team member, and one that I am not going to replace.[/BOX]
[a]weasel[/a]


[BOX]Weavile is a dark horse in today's metagame. It's faster than Tornadus-T, one of the most notable threats in today's metagame, and strong enough to mow down many of OU's acclaimed dragons with a boosted Ice Shard alone. It could also deal with Psychics through the use of its STAB Pursuit and Night Slash. After deciding that I had to use it (the selection process can be seen below), I had to choose a set for it. Granted, Weavile has few viable sets it can run (NP Weavile hurr), and the difference between them is just one move. I ended up choosing the physical attacker because of its access to Pursuit, which helps Weavile fill the position of dragon killer and trapper that I need from this slot.

While Mamoswine may seem a better choice as a dragon slayer (and it most certainly is for many teams), I wanted something fast that could effectively deal with dragons, the genies and their Therian counterparts, the Lati twins (separated from the other dragons by virtue of their specially-based offensive nature), Starmie, and Technician Breloom, all of which are very potent threats. Mamoswine only helped against the first two and last threats, leaving the team with a vulnerability to specially-based Psychics, who could run through the team with their powerful moves. Tyranitar and Scizor helped against the middle two threats, but again, using both Tyranitar and Mamoswine would leave me with fewer available team slots and a very noticeable vulnerability to opposing Keldeo. Having Weavile on the team gave me the traits I was looking for, made the vulnerability to Keldeo less noticeable, and gave the team more room for another utility Pokemon that could take on another role that the team needed.

The moves are all standard fare for Weavile, and they pretty much are the only options even viable on it. Ice Shard allows Weavile to nail down the many dragons of OU, discouraging people from siccing their Scarf MoxieMences and other similar Pokemon on this team. It also keeps Rock Polish Landorus and Agility Thundurus-T from ripping this team apart after a boost, which really is helpful. Pursuit lets Weavile boast the trapper card, assuring the team that frail, but fast Psychics won't be tormenting the team any time soon. Night Slash got the nod over Ice Punch in the third slot due to recent testing, which revealed that bulky waters, especially Politoed, liked switching into Ice Punch. Low Kick adds to Weavile's coverage, and allows Weavile to hit Steels and Terrakion that like switching into Weavile's STAB moves. The EV spread maximizes Weavile's Attack, while allowing Weavile to outpace max Speed Tornadus-T by one point. The remaining 32 EVs give Weavile a marginal increase in bulk, allowing it to take a Scald from Jellicent and defensive Starmie. If you had battled me in the past, you would note that I used to use Choice Band over Life Orb. I decided to use Life Orb over Choice Band now since I like the freedom to be able to switch off moves and actually sweep in the late-game.

Weavile's frailty prevents it from switching into any moderately strong attack, reducing its switch opportunities to little more than coming in after a Volt Switch from Magnezone and / or a teammate's death. However, once it's in, Weavile can start creating chaos against the opponent's team with its STAB attacks and Low Kick. Weavile's opening attack will depend on how early it's brought out in the game. If it's facing an Outraging dragon with a Life Orb or Lum Berry, Weavile will lance an Ice Shard and get a kill right away. However, if I find myself sending Weavile out on the field in the early game, I'll throw out a Low Kick in the hopes that I can catch one of its counters on the switch. Usually, I'm able to catch a Terrakion or Heatran on the switch with a Low Kick, knocking them out, and clearing the path for the rest of the team to break the opponent's team apart. All in all, Weavile is pretty important, but I am willing to try out something new over it.[/BOX]
[a]sea_star[/a]


[BOX]Starmie probably is the most expendable member of my team. However, it has a somewhat important role as the team's resident spinner and Fighting-type resist. It's also my most reliable check for Technician Breloom, one of the largest threats in the OU metagame, and Keldeo, yet another powerful threat that can run through my team if it's given a chance. Originally, this slot used to be occupied by an Alakazam, but the Stealth Rock weakness started aggravating the team, so the switch had to be made. On paper, this change may have seemed suboptimal, but in practice, it all works out. Starmie had all of Alakazam's good traits (namely its high Speed and Special Attack), as well as better STAB and access to the mighty Rapid Spin, which extends Weavile's and Kyurem-B's lives on the field exponentially.

As I mentioned earlier, Starmie is this team's Rapid Spinner and resident Psychic. This gave it quite a bit of competition for the team slot. As a spinner, it faced competition from Tentacruel, Donphan, and Forretress, and as a Psychic, it faced competition from Latias, Latios, Celebi, and Jirachi. All three spinners whom Starmie had to compete with offered more of a defensive presence for the team. I ended up choosing Starmie because I liked its offensive presence, which was created by its incredible speed and respectable offenses. Versus its fellow Psychics, it had to compete with the incredible offensive prowess of the former two, and the defensive utilities of the latter two. Starmie's ability to spin while maintaining valuable offense really helped it shine through the competition for this team slot.

The moves and EVs are all standard fare for Starmie. Hydro Pump is its most powerful STAB move, and despite the questionable accuracy, it is a neccesity to use since Starmie lacks a boosting item. Psychic keeps Breloom, Keldeo, and Conkeldurr from exploiting my use of both Kyurem-B and Weavile, and is just a great STAB move in general, due to the influx of Poison- and Fighting-types in OU. Ice Beam is used due to a lack of better options as well as a desire to hit dragons and Thundurus-T super-effectively. Ice Beam also hits Gliscor and Landorus-T, Pokemon that can wall Garchomp, super-effectively, reducing the burden on my team to beat them down. Rapid Spin gets Stealth Rock off my end of the field, enhancing the durability of Kyurem-B and Weavile by ensuring that they don't have to switch into SR and Spikes. Rapid Spin, alongside Psychic, lets Starmie break the standard Deoxys-D / Gengar core, crippling many Deo-D hyper offense teams. The EVs are standard, and they maximize Starmie's Speed and Special Attack. Also, I'm considering the use of Psyshock over Psychic. Please help me decide whether or not that is a good change to make.

Starmie plays an important role as the team's Rapid Spinner, forcing me to play extremely conservatively with it, so hazards don't ravage the rest of my team. I also use Starmie alongside Garchomp to break through teams in the end-game, provided it's still alive then. More often than not though, I'll use Starmie as an offensive pivot so another teammate can obtain a free switch-in opportunity. If the process ends up KOing Starmie prematurely, then it wouldn't have died in vain, since it got its job done in the end. In that same vein, once Starmie gets its job done, I'll use it as death fodder so a teammate (usually Garchomp) can get a free switch-in opportunity and start sweeping. It's rather ironic really, since I consider one of the most important members of the team to be the most expendable. Find me a good spinner, and I'm all ears.[/BOX]
[a]bell[/a]


[BOX]Some people might object to the placement of a Bronzong, which has nil in offensive potential, in such an offensive team as this, but do not fret yet, for it has its uses. For one, Bronzong provides the Stealth Rock support this team needs to succeed. Also, Bronzong's incredible resistances lend to it the role of the obligatory defensive pivot against large threats such as Double Dance Landorus-T and Tornadus-T. Bronzong is also my main Pokemon when facing a SubProtect Gliscor, which could theoretically outstall my whole team, if it weren't for this Pokemon. Now, for set picking, there were only two viable options available: the standard tank, and the Offensive Trick Room set. I ended up choosing the standard tank set since it provided the SR support my team needed. The tank set also gave the team a much-needed pivot for switching into powerful Dragon-type attacks.

Bronzong had little competition for its team slot, since what I needed it to do could be done by little else. Its only competition for the role of tank that could wall the majority of OU came from Jirachi and Celebi, and while the former boasted access to Wish and better Speed, and the latter Heal Bell and Perish Song, Bronzong could act as a check to all of Tornadus-T, Sheer Force Landorus, Specs Latios, and LO Latias. In addition, Bronzong could actually beat physically-based dragons not named Haxorus, Stoutland, and Sawsbuck, thanks to its beefy Defense stat, something that neither Celebi nor Jirachi could boast.

The moves and EVs are the standard, and for a good reason. Stealth Rock is the obligatory entry hazard, which helps force many more KOs than if it weren't in place. Hidden Power Ice is the move that lets Bronzong beat apart Sheer Force Landorus, SubProtect Gliscor, and the many dragons of OU, keeping them from ripping my own team apart. Gyro Ball lets Bronzong punish fast Pokemon that Garchomp cannot revenge kill, such as Scarf Terrakion and Scarf Latios, and Earthquake ensures the team that Magnezone isn't helpless against opposing Magnezone. The EVs are standard, with the exception of the movement of 4 EVs from Attack to Defense, and the IVs give Bronzong a base 70 Hidden Power Ice while minimizing its speed.

Bronzong tends to make its first appearance very early on in the game to set SR and sponge attacks. The only exception to this statement can be found when facing sun teams, many of which carry Forretress, which can spin away the Stealth Rock thrown up by Bronzong, which helps support powerful Fire-types that can force Bronzong back into a corner. Sun teams also tend to lead with Ninetales, which can beat Bronzong one on one, or at least severely weaken it, reducing the viability of that option. However, against sand teams that lack Magnezone, I'll lead with Bronzong, since it can sponge almost anything thrown at it and get SR down reliably. When facing rain or weatherless hyper offense teams, Bronzong will be sent out early on, most often after Kyurem-B weakens the opponent's team, to set SR and act as a pivot so another teammate can switch in and start wreaking havoc. As the game progresses, Bronzong will still maintain its position as that of a potent tank that can handily eliminate certain threats to the team without a hitch (e.g. SubProtect Gliscor, offensive pivot Landorus-T, Sheer Force Landorus, Gengar), and in the end-game, Bronzong will be used as death fodder so a faster teammate can start ripping past the opponent's team. Bronzong is a very important member of my team, and is a very underrated defensive threat in today's OU metagame.[/BOX]
[a]f*ckin'_magnet[/a]


[BOX]Magnezone makes an appearance on this team, and it plays the exact same role that it did in Grimaniel: [powerful Choiced dragon]'s wall-breaking partner in crime. In this case, the powerful Choiced dragon happens to be Kyurem-B, which can wreck faces with its terrifying Outrage. The only Pokemon stopping Kyurem-B from tearing everything up with Outrage (barring confusion hax) are the mighty steels that can actually stand up to its Outrage. Repeat Garchomp scenario, as seen in paragrah 1, sentences 3 & 4. Afterwards, I had to decide on a set to use for it. The old SubCharge Magnezone set is no longer viable in today's metagame, since it gives too many free turns to its opponent, and hoisting a Scarf onto Magnezone is plain dumb, since that role is done better by its pre-evolution.

Magnezone's only competition for its spot on the team came from Dugtrio, Gothitelle, Wobbuffet, and Magneton. Dugtrio was fast, but none too strong, and Gothitelle was in the same boat, just with the term "fast" replaced with "specially bulky." Unlike those two, Magnezone is especially powerful, leaving that issue behind. Wobbuffet was the bulkiest of all the trappers, but it could not deal with the defensive steels effectively, an ace that Magnezone boasted over it. Magneton, its pre-evolution, was fast, modestly powerful, and could have its defenses boosted by the Eviolite, but the Eviolite forces it to forfeit its item to get more bulk, cutting into its power. That left Magnezone as the only option to use.

The moves are standard fare, for the most part. Volt Switch lets Magnezone secure momentum for the team, and Thunder gives Magnezone an electric equivalent to Specs Latios's Draco Meteor, as well as an attack which can hit annoying steels (Jirachi) in the rain. In fact, against most steels, Thunder actually hits harder than Hidden Power Fire. Hidden Power Fire is used mainly for Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Forretress, as well as the various Grass-types that like switching into Thunder or Volt Switch. Flash Cannon is Magnezone's other STAB move, and is great for nailing the various Ground-types that like switching in on Volt Switch or Thunder. The EVs are all standard, with the exception of the movement of 4 EVs from HP to Speed. This lets my Magnezone speed creep other Specs Magnezone, as well as the standard Skarmory, thanks to Hidden Power Fire's forced 30 IVs in Speed.

Magnezone typically jumps out early on in the game to trap and kill the steels that inevitably will switch in on Kyurem-B's attacks. If I'm facing a Deo-D hyper offense team, I'll use Magnezone to start grabbing momentum with Volt Switch, giving my team more favorable match-ups. In a sense, this also gives Magnezone the role of an offensive pivot, which is truly helpful for the rest of the team. Against rain teams however, I'll be more conservative with Magnezone, since most of them pack Ferrothorn, which can really ruin my team's day. In addition, Ground-types (especially Gliscor, Hippowdon, and Landorus-T) like switching into Magnezone, hoping to absorb a Thunder or Volt Switch, only to eat a Specs-boosted Flash Cannon, which will leave them weakened to a point that Garchomp can run through them with relative ease. Once Magnezone is done trapping steels, I'll play it even more recklessly than I do with Kyurem-B. I'll try to inflict copious damage and hopefully break the team to the point where Magnezone's faster teammates can clean up its mess. All in all, Magnezone is one of the most important members of the team, since it performs such an indispensible function.[/BOX]
[a]cube[/a]


[BOX]Kyurem-B is weird. It has the most powerful Outrage in the game, as well as incredible 125 / 100 / 90 defenses for a Pokemon with 170 / 120 attacking stats. So, where did it go so wrong? Its typing, movepool, and Speed. Kyurem-B's typing gives it good, but redundant STAB and a plethora of weaknesses to some of the most common attacks in OU. While not as extreme a case as Flareon, Kyurem-B's movepool is sorely lacking in options. Its only viable moves on the physical side are as follows: Outrage, Fusion Bolt, Dragon Claw, Dragon Tail, Stone Edge. Not much in terms of coverage, eh? Finally, we have what may be its largest shortcoming: its base 95 Speed. While in no way bad, a base Speed of 95 really stops Kyurem from beating out certain targets that it would like to beat. In spite of those flaws, I decided to use it as the last member of my team. Choosing a set for it was the easy part. I wanted the most immediate power available to it, so I ended up going with a Choice Band set. Every other set seemed irrelevant for this team.

Kyurem-B faced quite a bit of competition from Haxorus, Dragonite, and Terrakion for its spot on the team. Haxorus was faster, and it boasted much better coverage than Kyurem-B, but it lacked Kyurem-B's bulk, slighting my eye in that sense. Dragonite had Multiscale, giving it comparable bulk, but it wasn't fast enough to do its job, and access to ExtremeSpeed could not compensate for the loss in Speed. Terrakion, while not a Dragon, could run a very potent Choice Band set thanks to the incredible neutral coverage its STAB moves get. In the same vein as Haxorus, it lacked Kyurem-B's bulk, and had similar weaknesses, making Kyurem-B the superior choice.

The moves on Kyurem-B are the best that it can run when using a Choice Band. Outrage is power incarnate. Outrage, coming from an effective Attack stat of 723, can 3HKO many household names in Defense, such as Skarmory and Forretress, who resist it. Notable physical walls that lack a resistance to Outrage are 2HKOed at the very least. Steels that lack Defense investment are also 2HKOed by it. Fusion Bolt covers most of what Outrage doesn't, and thanks to this move, Skarmory can no longer switch into Kyurem-B reliably. Dragon Claw is used when I don't want Kyurem-B to be locked into Outrage, but I want it to use a STAB move. Sleep Talk is in the last slot because Kyurem-B is a great switch-in against Sunny Day variants of Venusaur, which often carry Sleep Powder as their last move. The HP EVs ensure that a +0 LO Breloom / Scizor cannot KO Kyurem-B with a Technician-boosted Mach Punch / Bullet Punch after one round of Stealth Rock damage, and the Attack EVs let Kyurem-B slam into the opposition at full force.

Kyurem-B is my designated lead against most teams because almost every common lead is dealt with handily. Every lead that lacks a resistance to Outrage is 2HKOed at worst, and OHKOed at best. Deoxys-D? 2HKOed by both Outrage and Dragon Claw. Sash Breloom? Kyurem-B can absorb a Spore and retaliate with Sleep Talk, bringing Breloom down to Weavile's killing range. Politoed? Kyurem-B can absorb attacks from Scarf and Specs variants all day and slam them with Fusion Bolt. Defensive versions can't do anything and are also OHKOed by Fusion Bolt. Attacking leads and steels are dealt with by the appropriate teammates, and Bronzong takes the lead position when a more defensive presence is demanded on Turn 1. Kyurem-B always makes a massive contribution towards the team's victories, and any battle that it doesn't contribute to usually ends up with me put behind the 8 ball and struggling to recover momentum. It's not impossible to pull off a victory, but it becomes much harder than if Kyurem-B helped. Really, it's rather ironic that Kyurem-B is this team's most important member, especially considering that it was thrown in just to test its strength out. Try it out. It works wonders.[/BOX]


[a]closing[/a]
Well, this is the end of The Shooting Star Project. My goal with this team was to create a team that could match up well against most team styles, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm pretty happy with the results. Of course, there are some problems out there that my team has trouble beating past. For one, teams that employ multiple Fighting-types and a trapper to eliminate Starmie (Tyranitar comes to mind) are always a massive problem for me to deal with, since they rob the team of its most reliable answer to them. In addition, despite the use of Weavile and Garchomp, sun teams are a bit of a hassle to deal with, and one of the reasons I'm cotemplating the use of Hail over Ice Beam on Starmie, if I even keep Starmie to begin with. This brings me to my next issue. The Starmie set I use just doesn't feel right on this team. Yes, it works, but it's not what I would like. Would a Defensive Starmie work better than my current set?

Anyways, before I finish off this RMT, I'd like to thank my friends (and former tutees) Harsha and Sayonara for convincing me to get back into team rating half a year ago. I would not have hopped back into it on my own accord, and I certainly wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for them. I'd also like to thank the former for bringing my name up for the reception of the full Team Rater badge. Also, I'd like to thank Delko, Jirachee, and everyone else in #tr_rule for recognizing my efforts. You guys rock. Novaray gets a special mention here because he is a cute user and will most likely suggest that I use Donphan over Starmie as a spinner. Pocket is a great guy that helps me with C&C work, so he gets a mention here! Also, this is my Christmas gift for the RMT forum, which has kindly bestowed upon me the Team Rater badge. If you like this team, leave a Luvdisc in the top right corner. Of course, you don't have to do that, but it would make me feel better about myself. Have a nice day Smogon. If I forgot to give you a shout-out, please notify me of it.
 
Hey TNT!

This team is just amazing. I have never seen this team and it peaked me on my test account on PS. Okay. But no team is perfect. For Starmie, I would prefer Psyshock. Psyshock may have less power, but if you have Natural Cure, Blissey won't be doing anything that bad. This is why you should use Psyshock.

The next suggestion I would like to make is switching your Bronzong to Ferrothorn. Ferrothorn has much better defenses and has access to Gyro Ball. You can run the same set without earthquake. eatrhquake wont mattar because of the fire-type synergy it has Garchomp. These are some key points why you should use Ferrothorn.

Pro's

- 94 Base Attack (Bronzong = 89)
- 74 / 131 / 116 Defense (Bronzong = 67 / 116 / 116)
- 20 Base Speed = Stronger Gyro Ball (Bronzong = 33)
- Stealth Rock too
- Iron Barbs is better than Levitate to punish U-Turners and Outragers (Levitate is useless when most EQers are slow so Starmie can finish them off.
- Both have no reliable recovery move (at least Ferrothorn has Leech Seed)

Con's

- Lower SAtk
- No Earthquake
- More Weaknesses (but has synergy with it)

I mean look at this list so this is the most similiar Ferrothorn I can compare to your Bronzong.


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Iron Barbs
252 HP / 80 Atk / 84 Def / 92 SDef
Sassy
~ Stealth Rock
~ Gyro Ball
~ Power Whip
~ Swords Dance / Explosion / Leech Seed / Spikes

Yea, Swords dance may seem like a gimmick but it gives Ferrothorn some extra fire power.

Hope I could help! This team is amazing but I found more luck using Ferrothorn.​
 

dragonuser

The only thing I look up to is the sky
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Woah, another rmt from you.

So this team looks pretty cool, but does have some flaws. So at first look, Heatran looks incredibly difficult to face. Starmie is the only Pokemon on your team who can come into it reliably, but it lacks any recovery and is pursuit weak. A simple fix would be using Recover > Ice Beam. With both Weavile and a Bronzong, Ice Beam isn't needed nearly as much while Recover gives you incredible longevity and a very solid check to Heatran. Similarly to Heatran, Sun teams also look incredibly difficult to face. Additionally Scarf Keldeo is a troublesome Pokemon to face, but running Recover on Starmie does help with that a little. So to help with this, I would suggest running LO Latias > Garchomp. Choice Scarf Garchomp isn't needed as much on this team, while Latias gives you a lot of resistances, including being a Sun check and Keldeo check. A simple set of Draco Meteor / Surf / Psyshock / Recover should work well here. This set attracts Steel-Types like Ferrothorn, like crazy, helping to lure them for Magnezone. Now with this change you lose your main revenger, so I would suggest a Choice Scarf > Choice Band on Kyurem-B. With Magnezone removing most Steel-Types, and Kyurem-B's immense Attack stat, the change of item shouldn't affect his wall breaking potential too much, while at the same time giving you a solid revenger. Anyways, cool team gl.
 

Jirachee

phoenix reborn
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sup tnt

I think that you're gonna have a lot of issues against Choice Scarf Keldeo on Drizzle teams. It's very easy to get Rain up against your team as you don't have your own weather starter, and from there, Keldeo can simply spam Hydro Pump its way to victory. You have two Water resists, one of which is weak to Keldeo's secondary STAB, is weak to SR, has no recovery, and is used as a dedicated lead most of the time, which is Kyurem-B. This guy won't be very effective when it comes to deal with Keldeo for these reasons. The other Water resist, Starmie, is 2HKOed by Hydro Pump in Rain, plain and simple. It's also fairly easy for Rain teams to switch into it as most of them pack Ferrothorn. Lastly, you can't outspeed Scarf Keldeo. Your own Scarfer is slower than it. Honestly, I don't think that Starmie is the most useful Pokemon for your team, as a Spinner won't be that useful since your Kyurem-B leads anyway, and Weavile couldn't care less about hazard damage. Your team's main goal anyway is to wreck everything before the opponent can react. I'd suggest a Life Orb Latias instead of Starmie. Latias gives you a reliable switch in to Keldeo if you can keep it healthy, which is easy considering Latias has Recover and it's immune to Spikes. Latias has great synergy with the rest of your team too, as it is very capable offensively despite being less powerful than Latios.

I would recommend Fire Blast over Fire Fang on Garchomp. Fire Blast is a pretty cool move for choiced Garchomp, as without SD to boost Fire Fang's power, Fang is pathetically weak. Even with a Jolly nature, you will actually 2HKO physically defensive Skarmory with Fire Blast, which is pretty good compared to the pathetic 30% you're doing with Fire Fang. Fire Blast also stands a better chance of OHKOing Scizor (without counting the miss %), and you can OHKO it without any prior damage too, something that Fire Fang can't (it does a max damage of 99% lol.) Missing Fire Blast sucks, but keep in mind that Fire Fang can miss too and Fire Fang misses are 100x as infuriating as Fire Blast misses.

Here's the set you should use:

Latias @ Life Orb
Levitate
Timid
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
~Draco Meteor
~Surf
~Psyshock
~Recover


Merry christmas!
 
Hey tnt. This is an impressive team, and has a solid build. I've recently been using a team quite similar to this when I was laddering. I have to give you a lot of credit on the use of Weavile. It is a very underestimated pokemon that is typically found to be overshadowed by Mamoswine. I used the very same set on my team. Anyway, that's enough about me.

This team is solidly build, but I also recommend LO Latias. You have to have your whole team pressurizing Starmie when facing threats such as Bulk Up Conkeldurr with Ice Punch. The opponent might also be carrying a Pursuit user, so Starmie will have a hard time. However, switching Garchomp to Latias makes you very vulnerable to Pursuit and Scizor, as the opponent can predict the switch into Magnezone and hit you with Superpower. Also, Scizor with Roost can slowly wear down Bronzong, so I think that you should at least give Bronzong Hidden Power Fire and 128 SpA EVs. Though it sounds ridiculous, it ensures you a 2HKO. If it seems to be too much for you, I suggest you run a Heatran set, instead. Heatran outspeeds and has no problem with Scizor. It can run HP Ice, a fire STAB, Stealth Rock, and Earth Power. If you decide to change Garchomp to LO Latias, I think you should also change Kyurem-B's Band to Scarf to revenge kill. That's all I got for you, nice team. Luvdisc'd
 
wow this is almost the exact same team i used to qualify for the kyurem-b test. i used terrakion over weavile though, mainly to combat sun teams, which definitely give you tons of trouble

anyways in the first rendition of the team i used rain dance kingdra over starmie. i found magnezone did a good job preventing spikes from going up (mine was scarfed), so i didn't really need a spinner. i definitely did miss starmie against deo-d teams. kingdra was pretty much an auto-win against rain teams because once magnezone trapped ferro it was game over. i found with starmie i had a hard time beating rain teams even with a couple of good resists because scarf keldeo could just hpump its way to victory

if you do feel like testing out kingdra over starmie you'll definitely want a fighting resist. rp landorus could fit over weavile to threaten sun. landorus-t is also another option of you want a better terrakion check (who is a pain to face)

scarf chomp / cb kyurem-b (or some other dragon) / support zong / mag is an excellent offensive core that i've been using since the beginning of bw2. the hard part is finding 2 pokemon that handle the core's weaknesses (there are many) without slowing it down too much. if i were you i'd just experiment with a bunch of pokemon in those 2 slots, as i'm sure there is a better combination than what you or i have been using
 

Trinitrotoluene

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wow this is almost the exact same team i used to qualify for the kyurem-b test. i used terrakion over weavile though, mainly to combat sun teams, which definitely give you tons of trouble

anyways in the first rendition of the team i used rain dance kingdra over starmie. i found magnezone did a good job preventing spikes from going up (mine was scarfed), so i didn't really need a spinner. i definitely did miss starmie against deo-d teams. kingdra was pretty much an auto-win against rain teams because once magnezone trapped ferro it was game over. i found with starmie i had a hard time beating rain teams even with a couple of good resists because scarf keldeo could just hpump its way to victory

if you do feel like testing out kingdra over starmie you'll definitely want a fighting resist. rp landorus could fit over weavile to threaten sun. landorus-t is also another option of you want a better terrakion check (who is a pain to face)

scarf chomp / cb kyurem-b (or some other dragon) / support zong / mag is an excellent offensive core that i've been using since the beginning of bw2. the hard part is finding 2 pokemon that handle the core's weaknesses (there are many) without slowing it down too much. if i were you i'd just experiment with a bunch of pokemon in those 2 slots, as i'm sure there is a better combination than what you or i have been using
Hey Iconic! Thanks for the rate, and I'm sorry if my team seems too similar to your past teams. Also, thanks for the advice in this rate. I've tried a few other Pokemon over Weavile and Starmie, but I don't have enough information in favor of a certain change though. I'll keep you all posted on that. Again, thank you for your excellent advice.

Hey tnt. This is an impressive team, and has a solid build. I've recently been using a team quite similar to this when I was laddering. I have to give you a lot of credit on the use of Weavile. It is a very underestimated pokemon that is typically found to be overshadowed by Mamoswine. I used the very same set on my team. Anyway, that's enough about me.

This team is solidly build, but I also recommend LO Latias. You have to have your whole team pressurizing Starmie when facing threats such as Bulk Up Conkeldurr with Ice Punch. The opponent might also be carrying a Pursuit user, so Starmie will have a hard time. However, switching Garchomp to Latias makes you very vulnerable to Pursuit and Scizor, as the opponent can predict the switch into Magnezone and hit you with Superpower. Also, Scizor with Roost can slowly wear down Bronzong, so I think that you should at least give Bronzong Hidden Power Fire and 128 SpA EVs. Though it sounds ridiculous, it ensures you a 2HKO. If it seems to be too much for you, I suggest you run a Heatran set, instead. Heatran outspeeds and has no problem with Scizor. It can run HP Ice, a fire STAB, Stealth Rock, and Earth Power. If you decide to change Garchomp to LO Latias, I think you should also change Kyurem-B's Band to Scarf to revenge kill. That's all I got for you, nice team. Luvdisc'd
I'll try out your suggestions, but changing Kyurem-B to a Scarf set seems to be a bit too much for me. Personally, I cannot stand losing the sheer amount of power CB Kyurem-B brings to the table. Thanks for the rate.

sup tnt

I think that you're gonna have a lot of issues against Choice Scarf Keldeo on Drizzle teams. It's very easy to get Rain up against your team as you don't have your own weather starter, and from there, Keldeo can simply spam Hydro Pump its way to victory. You have two Water resists, one of which is weak to Keldeo's secondary STAB, is weak to SR, has no recovery, and is used as a dedicated lead most of the time, which is Kyurem-B. This guy won't be very effective when it comes to deal with Keldeo for these reasons. The other Water resist, Starmie, is 2HKOed by Hydro Pump in Rain, plain and simple. It's also fairly easy for Rain teams to switch into it as most of them pack Ferrothorn. Lastly, you can't outspeed Scarf Keldeo. Your own Scarfer is slower than it. Honestly, I don't think that Starmie is the most useful Pokemon for your team, as a Spinner won't be that useful since your Kyurem-B leads anyway, and Weavile couldn't care less about hazard damage. Your team's main goal anyway is to wreck everything before the opponent can react. I'd suggest a Life Orb Latias instead of Starmie. Latias gives you a reliable switch in to Keldeo if you can keep it healthy, which is easy considering Latias has Recover and it's immune to Spikes. Latias has great synergy with the rest of your team too, as it is very capable offensively despite being less powerful than Latios.

I would recommend Fire Blast over Fire Fang on Garchomp. Fire Blast is a pretty cool move for choiced Garchomp, as without SD to boost Fire Fang's power, Fang is pathetically weak. Even with a Jolly nature, you will actually 2HKO physically defensive Skarmory with Fire Blast, which is pretty good compared to the pathetic 30% you're doing with Fire Fang. Fire Blast also stands a better chance of OHKOing Scizor (without counting the miss %), and you can OHKO it without any prior damage too, something that Fire Fang can't (it does a max damage of 99% lol.) Missing Fire Blast sucks, but keep in mind that Fire Fang can miss too and Fire Fang misses are 100x as infuriating as Fire Blast misses.

Here's the set you should use:

Latias @ Life Orb
Levitate
Timid
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
~Draco Meteor
~Surf
~Psyshock
~Recover


Merry christmas!
Hey. Thanks for the rate and Luvdisc Jirachee! I'll be sure to try out LO Latias over Starmie. I never really liked Starmie on this team, but that's beside the point.

Woah, another rmt from you.

So this team looks pretty cool, but does have some flaws. So at first look, Heatran looks incredibly difficult to face. Starmie is the only Pokemon on your team who can come into it reliably, but it lacks any recovery and is pursuit weak. A simple fix would be using Recover > Ice Beam. With both Weavile and a Bronzong, Ice Beam isn't needed nearly as much while Recover gives you incredible longevity and a very solid check to Heatran. Similarly to Heatran, Sun teams also look incredibly difficult to face. Additionally Scarf Keldeo is a troublesome Pokemon to face, but running Recover on Starmie does help with that a little. So to help with this, I would suggest running LO Latias > Garchomp. Choice Scarf Garchomp isn't needed as much on this team, while Latias gives you a lot of resistances, including being a Sun check and Keldeo check. A simple set of Draco Meteor / Surf / Psyshock / Recover should work well here. This set attracts Steel-Types like Ferrothorn, like crazy, helping to lure them for Magnezone. Now with this change you lose your main revenger, so I would suggest a Choice Scarf > Choice Band on Kyurem-B. With Magnezone removing most Steel-Types, and Kyurem-B's immense Attack stat, the change of item shouldn't affect his wall breaking potential too much, while at the same time giving you a solid revenger. Anyways, cool team gl.
Hey dragonuser! Thanks for the rate. I'll try out your suggestion, with the exception of Scarf Kyurem-B > Band Kyurem-B.

Hey TNT!

This team is just amazing. I have never seen this team and it peaked me on my test account on PS. Okay. But no team is perfect. For Starmie, I would prefer Psyshock. Psyshock may have less power, but if you have Natural Cure, Blissey won't be doing anything that bad. This is why you should use Psyshock.

The next suggestion I would like to make is switching your Bronzong to Ferrothorn. Ferrothorn has much better defenses and has access to Gyro Ball. You can run the same set without earthquake. eatrhquake wont mattar because of the fire-type synergy it has Garchomp. These are some key points why you should use Ferrothorn.

Pro's

- 94 Base Attack (Bronzong = 89)
- 74 / 131 / 116 Defense (Bronzong = 67 / 116 / 116)
- 20 Base Speed = Stronger Gyro Ball (Bronzong = 33)
- Stealth Rock too
- Iron Barbs is better than Levitate to punish U-Turners and Outragers (Levitate is useless when most EQers are slow so Starmie can finish them off.
- Both have no reliable recovery move (at least Ferrothorn has Leech Seed)

Con's

- Lower SAtk
- No Earthquake
- More Weaknesses (but has synergy with it)

I mean look at this list so this is the most similiar Ferrothorn I can compare to your Bronzong.


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Iron Barbs
252 HP / 80 Atk / 84 Def / 92 SDef
Sassy
~ Stealth Rock
~ Gyro Ball
~ Power Whip
~ Swords Dance / Explosion / Leech Seed / Spikes

Yea, Swords dance may seem like a gimmick but it gives Ferrothorn some extra fire power.

Hope I could help! This team is amazing but I found more luck using Ferrothorn.​
Hey TheStriker! Thanks for the rate. Normally, I'd try out Ferrothorn, but in this case, using it causes me to lose most of the benefits of using Bronzong (namely Levitate and access to better coverage). I'll still try out Ferrothorn, but in no way will testing it over Bronzong be a priority. Again, thank you for your rate.

Also, thanks for the Luvdiscs and amazing rates so far. I'll be sure to update you all if / when I do make changes to the team.
 

Lord Wallace

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is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Very nice team you got there. Bravo! All i have for you are some mild set changes.

I feel a bulkier Starmie with RECOVER>Ice Beam and PSYSHOCK>Psychic would go a long way in checking Keldeo,Heatran and Terrakion. You should also opt for SCALD> Hydro Pump. Try an EV spread of 248 HP / 212 Spd and put the remaining EVs in either defensive stat depending on what you want to check better. 212 is enough to outspeed base 110s such as Gengar.

This change somewhat lessens the need for a Latias as others have suggested although I still recommend her as well but I see youre adamant on Garchomp which is fine too.

Kyurem-B really wants 252 Spd EVs to outspeed D-nite,Breloom and Lucario as the added bulk wont do much thanks to its crap typing and it already has good natural bulk for the hits that actually wont be SE on him.

Finally,if you do replace Chomp try a Scarf Magneton for your revenge killer over Magnezone. He has just enough power to do what Zone did and he can revenge kill fairly well with its usable base 70 speed.
 

CTC

Banned deucer.
is a Two-Time Past SPL Championis a Two-Time Past WCoP Champion
Big Chungus Winner
Hi tnt, this is a cool team!
The team handles many threats reliably and I only see a few problems that may trouble it. As people have mentioned, rain spam and especially keldeo is painful to face, but so is every other fighting type that hits hard (think terrak, luke etc). The only way to fix it without changing the structure of the team is to use a bulkier starmie spread seeing as it's one of your 2 water resists and only fighting resist.

Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 44 SDef / 216 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psychic
- Recover
- Scald
- Rapid Spin

This spread allows you to deal with keldeo in rain much more comfortably and switch into terrak more easily, albeit making you even weaker to conkelder. I think that since terrak and keldeo are much more common than conk it's in your best interest to check the former 2 and still have a semi reliable way to kill conk after a bit of prior damage.
Hopefully that helped!
Grats on the peak
 
hey tnt awesome team, congrats on the tr and of course Merry Christmas btw you forgot to give me a shout out for being the cutest team rater on smogon (seriously i give people cute christmas rates!)

Now there really isn't to much to be said about this team seeing as it is quite a solid team, and there are quite a few cool stuff i don't want to change like Weavile and Bronzong. However i highly suggest you use an ev spread of 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe>252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def on Kyurem-B because you mentioned you didn't you didn't like Dragonite because of its low speed, i believe Kyurem needs speed investment so it can't be worn down by all those Pokemon in the 70-90 speed tier. Although you do lose some bulk Kyurem-B doesn't really need it because the offensive Pokemon that can do damage to Kyurem can't switch in to easily because of his raw power and with max speed investment you may be able to outspeed some of these Pokemon and net a 2hko.

Good luck with the team and i apologise for the small rate! There really wasn't to much to be said although i do like Jirachi's idea of Latias>Starmie to help you with your Keldeo problem and with your team being weatherless rain in general. Its also refreshing to see that i am not the only one who enjoys building weatherless offense teams in BW2.

TL;DR
Kyurem-B
.252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 Def--->4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe



~Superpowerdude
 
Hey there, congrats on the RMT!

I have no so much to tell about because this is a very solid team; anyway your team has a little weakness to Keldeo, therefore, I suggest you to use EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd. This EV spread allows to tank Keldeo's hits better. I'd use also Scald in place of Hydro Pump because with this EV spread Starmie can't do a lots of damages, Scald otherwise can be useful to burn something.
Then, I agree with Superpowerdude's advice to change Kyurem-B's EV spread into 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe. This EV spread allows to outspeed all Pokèmon in 70-90, as already said Superpowerdude, and on the whole, I think that an offensive Pokèmon as Kyurem-B needs a Speed EVs investment. That's all, hope I helped, good luck and Merry Christmas!
 
Very nice team. There are only a couple of suggestions I can give you that I think would help improve the team. First, I'd definetly get rid of Fire Fang on Garchomp. Fire Blast IS a better option even with a Jolly nature, but still leaves Garchomp as pure setup fodder. Since you already have Magnezone to deal with the things that Fire Fang/Blast are targeting, I'd recommend Stone Edge to give you an easier time against opposing Volcarona, Tornadus-T and Thundurus-T. Rock Slide is weaker but more accurate, and still gets the KOs against the therians after SR damage.

Next, as many others have said, I'd replace Psychic with Psyshock on Starmie. Not for combatting the pink blobs, at it'll still do pittance, but for taking out +1 Keldeo and Terrakion in the sand.

Finally, and I hate to say this, but I'd replace Kyurem with a Dragonite. It gives you an easier time against Sun teams, gives you a second Fighting- and Ground-type resist (I think that all teams should carry at least two), a far better chance against opposing Keldeo and valuable priority. Keeping Multiscale up shouldn't be too difficult thanks to you having a spinner. A Choice Band set is extremely powerful and still viable, but I couldnt help notocing that you don't have any setup sweepers, a win condition you could say. Therefore, you may also want to give the Dragon Dance set a spin. Magnezone support is aldo incredibly valuable if you choose to run the DD set.

So yeah, big props on using Weavile and Bronzong so effectively, you've mafe me want to try them out :)
 

ganj4lF

Nobody is safe from the power of science!
is a Team Rater Alumnus
Just posting to say that I really love everything on this team: the presentation, the members, and your detailed description of their roles. It looks a great team, I can see some problems but listing them is redundant, my rate would look an exact copy of Jirachi's one: the main problem I can see are Rain Hydro Pumps by the likes of Keldeo and its friends. While K-B boasts absurd bulk, it's weak to Secret Sword and to hazards, and Starmie as pointed out will go down very fast anyway. Unfortunately, even switching to a Bulky Starmie doesn't help: Keldeo still 2HKOs with Specs or Rain up. I fully support Jirachi's LO Latias to handle Scarf Keldeo. The other suggestion (already mentioned, too) that I'd implement on this team is Fire Blast over Fire Fang on Chomp, basically for the reasons Jirachi explained in his reply.

Again, great team, good luck playing it!
 
Yea LO Latias. Thats a really good suggestion, but you lose that precious Rapid Spin support for Kyurem-B and Weavile. I really think Fire Blast is better on Garchomp since it does more damage to Forretress and Skarmory. Fire Fang is useless in in Rain and Fire Blast will be equal to Fire Fang in Rain with the 50% drop about.
 
I tested this team out and while it is very good at defeating rain/sand, I can never get past sun teams. It is extremely weak to fire, and your fire resists are killed by Venasaur. I want to suggest Heatran instead of bronzong. Here is a sample set:


Heatran @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spd
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Toxic
 
You are quite weak to sun teams. Volcarona in particular is a huge problem. I would use Mamoswine and Terrakion over Kyurem and weavile to give you the same ease with revenge killing chlorophyll pokemon and Terrakion for sun teams. Terrakion could be LO/SubSalac/CB. This team also kind of struggles with fighting types, notably BU conkeldurr. My other suggestion is ( bulky NP ) celebi and forretress over bronzong and starmie which keeps your spinner intact and gives you the Special landorus switch in.

Summary:
Celebi > Starmie
Mamoswine > Kyurem-B
Forretress > Bronzong
Terrakion >Weavile
 

Electrolyte

Wouldn't Wanna Know
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Hey TNT!

A lot of what should be said has been said already, so I'll bandwagon this time and agree with many others on the idea of Bulky Starmie. I'd use Scald / Psyshock / Recover / RSpin on that one, since you still want to keep your ability to OHKO Gengar. Since your team doesn't really have any other solid fighting type counters, I think making Starmie bulky is your best bet.

Nice team! I am really quite surprised that such an offensive team as yours can be so solid even with such slow and defensive steels such as Magnezone or Bronzong. Your RMT was beautiful, and was quite entertaining to read as well.

Keep up the good work!
 

CTC

Banned deucer.
is a Two-Time Past SPL Championis a Two-Time Past WCoP Champion
Big Chungus Winner
After taking a second look at the team I have more to add on. To the people suggesting psyshock on starmie, he is already 1 ttar away from being swept by conkeldurr, so probably no. To be honest the team's weak link is actually kyurem B. Yes it has immense power, yes its bulk is impressive, but it simply requires too much support to be used with a
band set. Yes it demolishes stall, but vs offense it's just making a 1 for 1 trade-off, especially with no speed investment. Even at that, opponents can save fodders and what not to bring in a fighting type that could 2hko the entire team. However, since the team's synergy (both offensive and defensive) revolves around the bulky yet offensive nature of kyube, there isn't much that can be changed. I think a tank latias and another semi bulky wallbreaker/heavy hitter would do great over starmie and kyube.
Just my opinion.
 

Pocket

be the upgraded version of me
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Amazing team, TNT! Bronzong is a nice touch to this otherwise traditional DragMag team ;d I dig your style.

As mentioned already, Scarf Keldeo in the Rain is problematic. Unlike what most people suggested, bulky Starmie is a poor excuse for Scarf Keldeo, as its Hydro Pump solidly 2HKOs it in the Rain. Your only solid option against it is Kyurem-B, which is a shaky answer, too. Try using Latios or Kingdra over Starmie. They are both fearsome threats once Magnezone removes Ferrothorn. Latios have the immediate Speed and power, but Kingdra can boost its Speed in Rain or with Dragon Dance. Either options would provide a much better answer against Keldeo than bulky Starmie. Even more, Latios is a good check against RP Landorus and Agility Thundurus-T.

There are various sets you can try for either. For Latios you can try a 3 Atk + CM / Roost / Rain Dance at Life Orb, Water Gem, Lum Berry, etc. Kingdra can go Special LO Rain Dance or Mixed DD, both equally threatening. If you go with Rain Dance on either set, you would have an additional weapon against Sun and Sand Teams.

Latios @ Life Orb / Water Gem | Levitate
Timid | 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~ Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
~ Surf
~ Psyshock / Dragon Pulse
~ Recover / Rain Dance / Calm Mind

Note: You can fool around in the item slot. Lum Berry / Salac Berry / Colbur Berry are other options, for instance. LO is great for punching holes, but may not be great if Latios is to serve as a "glue"

Kingdra @ Life Orb | Swift Swim
Timid or Modest | 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~ Draco Meteor
~ Hydro Pump
~ Rain Dance
~ Ice Beam / Dragon Pulse

Kingdra @ Dragon Fang / Life Orb | Swift Swim
Rash | 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~ Dragon Dance
~ Hydro Pump
~ Draco Meteor
~ Outrage

Note: This is a fun set, since even after a special drop from Draco Meteor, Kingdra can still blow holes with DD-boosted Outrage; it also retains its Speed boost for more than 5 turns

You still want to minimize hazards on your field, though, since you have Kyurem-B, and Latios wont be tanking hits easily if it has to take hazards damage. I'd suggest Xatu over Weavile's spot. Xatu can protect this team from Deo-D hazards and other defensive spikers. Even if it dies against an offensive one, it has served its purpose in retarding entry hazards from going up. As a bonus, it also cock-blocks Breloom, too ;d You lose Weavile, but I think Latios / Kingdra would provide enough offensive pressure against other Dragons and Therians, and now you have Xatu for Breloom.

Xatu @ Rocky Helmet | Levitate
Bold | 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
~ Heat Wave
~ U-turn
~ Toxic
~ Roost

Note: Heat Wave for Steel Spikers; U-turn to gtfo; Toxic to stall out Hippowdon. Rocky Helmet is awesome for racking some residual damage

This is more of an option rather than a recommendation: SubSalac SD Garchomp > Scarf Chomp. You lose the immediate Speed of a Scarfer, but your team sort of overburdens Kyurem-B in punching holes, and when Kyurem-B prematurely bites the dust then your team falters. With SD, Garchomp can provide a back-up wallbreaking power early game while with Salac threatening to sweep late-game far better than the Scarf set. Dragon & Ground is all the offensive coverage it needs, since Magnezone would be disposing Skarmory for it.

Garchomp @ Salac Berry | Levitate
Jolly | 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~ Earthquake
~ Dragon Claw / Dual Chop
~ Substitute
~ Swords Dance

Note: Outrage > DC is an option

Finally, your Kyurem-B needs Speed. Having bulk is nice, but you end up taking more damage than necessary by being slower than Dragonite / Lucario / Low Sweep Breloom, etc. Your spread is rather meaningless anyways, since Scizor's BP Bullet Punch would more often than not OHKO Kyurem-B after SR damage anyways (70-83%). I'd AT LEAST give Kyurem-B some Speed to be faster than specially defensive Jirachi, who would otherwise Iron Head flinch it to death x.x; I personally recommend 244 Atk / 28 Def / 236 Spe, so that it's faster than Jolly Mamoswine (and everything below it). It can still survive CB Bullet Punch at full-health and has enough Atk to 3HKO Forretress with Fusion Bolt. Since you have Xatu now, replace Sleep Talk with Ice Beam, which will let you take down defensive grounds faster.

Kyurem-B @ Choice Band | Teravolt
Adamant | 244 Atk / 28 Def / 236 Spe
~ Outrage
~ Fusion Bolt
~ Dragon Claw
~ Ice Beam


Thanks for sharing another magnificently presented RMT; and thanks for the shout out!
 

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