The Best Defense is a Good Offense
---- The Inspiration ------
My desire to play with a VoltTurn team came from my history with the game Yugioh. For those of you who know about yugioh would know about an archtype of cards known as the Gladiator Beasts (for those that don't Google is your best friend :D) Anyways I loved the idea that I could constantly switch cards in and out to take advantage of the field. As I rediscovered Pokemon, I fell in love with the concept of VoltTurning.
------ Team Building --------
I had many iterations as I was building this team. It started with with the usual
Scizor, (a personal fav since Gen 2) Rotom-W, and Landorus-T , Espeon, Salamence, Infernape (I was weird, I know)
I realized that the strength of VoltTurn teams came not from their ability to deal with every possible situation but to apply offensive pressure. With that in mind I completely revamped the team so that it could apply the most amount of pressure and strike hard and fast.
------- The Team "Glory Under Heaven" -----------
(This is my first time working with the forums so I don't really know how to add pictures and make it fancy so sorry for the bland presentation.)
Occupy Scizor (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 Spd / 248 HP
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
The original Scizor was scarfed. But after a few play tests I realized that I missed the power. I like to think of this guy as the "hitman" he's brought in when damage is needed and needed ASAP. U-turn and Bullet Punch provide the STAB. Superpower hits the pink blobs and knocks their socks off, and pursuit deals with guys who try to flee. No matter the poke, with Band this guy is sure to take a chunk out of anyone. Deals with T-Tar and revenge kills Terrakion if necessary. I'm pretty sure this guy can live a DM from Spec Latios and KO with pursuit. (watch out for the HP fire).
LaundroMate (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 28SAtk / 248HP / 232 SDef
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
- Thunder Wave
*** Edited: I realized that Rotom had great diversity in his moves and I was limiting his options with a Choice item, so I decided to opt for a more specially defensive set will still letting him dish out damage. The Thunder wave lets me slow down the incoming Venasaur so that I could have a chance to fight back against something that could set up and sweep me. ***
I had the most fun experimenting with this fella. At first I used the Bulky Attacker set. Then a Defensive set. I settled with the Specs because it allowed me to deal tons of DMG with Volt Switch and HP Fire catching steel types unaware. If I predict well a well timed trick cripples walls such as Chansey and Gastrodon (my most feared wall). Because I will mostly be using Volt Switch I wanted to make sure that I could deal the most damage with that move (similar idea to Banded U-Turn). I don't really miss the speed, I needed something that could take a neutral hit and KO or finish off with Volt Switch or Hydropump. OHKOs Hippos (99% of the times? xD)
WuKong (Infernape) (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Fire Blast
*** Edited: Just trying out i Darky's suggestions, SR's are pretty good entry hazards especially taking into account that this team forces alot of switches. The sash lets him get a hit off even after setting SR and U-Turn lets him bail out and come back in if necessary. I may revert back to my scarf set, but I think playing with the Stealth Rocker will be quite fun as well ***
A questionable member but still really good. At first I had this guy run Grass Knot rather than Mach, but couldn't deal the damage I wanted, and if it hits something I would rather not have it hit, switching this guy out becomes a liability. With a Scarf he makes sure Terrakion stays where he belongs, in the party roster cowering. I didn't want to use Stone edge because I hated the 20% chance of getting a stone broadside (I hope someone gets this joke). The CC and Flare Blitz STABS ensure something gets hit very hard if i'm in a pinch. So basically a physical attacker.
EarthSprite (Landorus) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SAtk
Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
*** Edited: The only change here was due to my own silly mistake, Switched Sheer force for Sand Force. ***
Revenge Kill, Sweep, Lead, this guy does it all. The scarf really catches people by surprise and the sheer force makes certain that I always get a power boost. HP Ice on this guy makes him a tag team duo with Celebi to ensure dragons are put in their place. Other than that everything else should be pretty self-explanatory.
Fluffy (Hydreigon) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Focus Blast
- Fire Blast
- U-turn
*** Edited: With expert belt I can bluff a choice if needed, I can also have the diversity of moves that Hydregion provides so that I won't be locked into DM that would just constantly cut my attack. ***
So I needed offense, well I didn't need to look further, with Specs this dragon rips through pokes with Draco Meteor. Combined with my Infernape (physical attacker) Something is going to be going home crippled. This set is simply meant to deal damage and gain a lead, otherwise he becomes pretty useless considering his speed vs. other dragons. But still, his strength and ability to take 1-2 hits becomes really handy sometimes.
Lady of the Forest (Celebi) @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 200 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Giga Drain
- Earth Power
- Thunder Wave
- Psychic
*** Edited: Taking into account that even with the edits, half my team is choiced. I wanted a few pokes that could hit alot of "stuff" and hit it hard. This offensive set does just that. With Giga Drain I can pass on the Recover (but i give up on the damage). Thunder Wave cripples anything that could potentially become dangerous and the Psychic just gives me an opportunity to use my STAB. With Natural Cure I can also switch in and absorb statuses for the rest of my team. (Landorous will be my one and only dragon revenge killer) ***
Nothing here should be too surprising, Leaf Storm is one of the only moves that I have to ensure Gastrodon's death, other than that i'm pretty much dead in the water. HP Ice is for Outraging dragons that need to take a chill pill, or annoying ground types *cough*Landorus*cough* I mostly use this guy to take the physical hits and to absorb the grass attacks that plague my Rotom. Celebi also checks rain teams pretty well, combined with natural cure he can switch into Politoeds toxic's and scalds. Earth power is to hurt Jirachi.
------- Recap ------
So my team uses diverse move pools and types to try to stay alive defensively, but it's strengths comes from each individual. Their presence forces the opponent to make the correct decision while I can VoltTurn around until something favorable lands in my bucket. Since this team is all about speed and bringing the best match ups it sometimes requires that 2- pokes to die in order for me to get the revenge kills that I look for.
This team is all about that "element of surprise" and the ability to just constantly switch so that my opponents needs to be on their toes constantly. If they ever get complacent and think that they can get a first strike in, my scarfers usually tell them otherwise.
I'm quite proud of this team, I wanted something that felt easy and at home to use, while at the same time staying away from the "hipster" weather teams and the standard " 3 core " teams.
------- Threats -------
So there is the obvious entry hazards. Although the only one that affects me is stealth rock, Spikes can be avoided by Hydra, Land, and Rotom. Toxic spikes is avoided by all of the above and Scizor. And my team is pretty fragile so that they are all pretty much OHKO'd by anything they don't resisit so Stealth Rocks are NBD in my oponion, I haven't lost too many games to SR and yes I have tried playing with Foretress, but it became set up bait way to easily even with volt switching.
Chlorophyll Venasaur with Timid will set up and sweep unless I get a lucky with predictions and land a HP Fire or EQ
Gastrodon and Skarmory will wall this team to kingdom come and back. Sometimes I feel like the problem is me, and that i'm just not using my team well enough.
------ In Conclusion -----
Thank you for sticking through with this bland post till the end, Much appreciated. This is my first RMT and the 3rd actual team I've made and play tested like crazy. I've tried playing with Mienshao and Jirachi but they lacked the damage and the offensive pressure that I wanted this team to have. I am currently 1402 on the OU ladder. Any comments will be appreciated, I'm relatively new to competitive pokemon and i'm sure any comments and improvements can help me improve. Thanks again everyone :D
Edited *** I will be play testing most of the suggestions so the set could change again. Thanks again to everyone who rated this team :D ***
