I'd prefer scald, but Lapras doesn't learn it. Something to do with being an Ice type I guess. And honestly, I have no idea why people don't use hydration Vaporeon more often. It seems like it would have a lot of potential. Honestly, I'm glad when Vaporeon water absorbs my attacks because it means it doesn't have hydration. The only thing Lapras really has that vaporeon doesn't is thunder, which while it's nice because Lapras walls the vast majority of opposing bulky waters, it's still fairly weak.
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Creative / Underrated Sets Thread (Read the thread, NO SHITTY GIMMICKS)
- Thread starter Tobes
- Start date
Honestly, if you want to fake a Choice Band set, I would stay away from moves like Brick Break and Bug Bite. Those moves almost always signal to the opponent HEY, I'M NOT CHOICED, JUST SO YOU KNOW. So I would use U-Turn over Bug Bite, and Superpower over Brick Break. Superpower is much more powerful anyway.
When I got bored one day I made an all weather team, which sucked might I add. But there was one saving grace for this team and it was Hippowdon. I made a bulky one using the uncommon move Stockpile. After this I put it on my normal team to find out that it was just extremely powerful. So here it is my Hippowdon.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Stockpile
- Slack Off
- Toxic
- Earthquake
With OU teams today one thing that is very common to see is very powerful pokemon that use no boosting moves. These pokemon can be choiced, life orbed or just have no good boosting moves to use. This Hippowdon takes advantage of this trend and becomes so bulky that its hard for anything to kill it unless they have toxic or boosting moves. It is more SDef then most Hippowdon because I wanted the both defenses to be close to even so it can take both physical and special attacks equally as well. Also from doing this people think that there best bet is to use a Special attacker which lets me get at least one free boost. Sadly though for this set is that it does not have cosmic power so the best boosting move for it is stockpile which caps at +3 Def/SDef. Even though it cannot get +6 in Def/SDef it still becomes extremely bulky with 3 stockpiles reaching 682 Def / 667 SDef. A common switch into Hippowdon like Rotom-w stands no chance as it only does 28.57-34.28% damage with hydro pump which can easily healed off by slack off.
Toxic is the main form of damage as I used it as a toxic staller. Just toxic the other pokemon and then just heal off any damage that they do to you. The other move I used for attacking is earthquake to take down some of the more annoying steel/poison types that it may have to face and to break subs. Also the sand storm is sometimes what needs to be used to kill pokemon like gengar, who can not kill Hippowdon when it is fully boosted. It also adds damage making toxic stalling a bit faster.
A lot of the battles that I used Hippowdon for ended in a rage quits because my opponent realized that he had nothing on his team to kill it. For this reason I did not save to many replays of Hippowdon owning because I normally like saving battles that don't end in rage quits. Anyways here are two replays that i did save that show Hippowdon in action.
This is when it was on my all weather team and was truly the only reason I won the battle.
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou8323024
The next one is when it was on my normal team.
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou8720683
While not perfect it still can destroy a team that is not prepared enough to kill it just with its sheer bulk.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Stockpile
- Slack Off
- Toxic
- Earthquake
With OU teams today one thing that is very common to see is very powerful pokemon that use no boosting moves. These pokemon can be choiced, life orbed or just have no good boosting moves to use. This Hippowdon takes advantage of this trend and becomes so bulky that its hard for anything to kill it unless they have toxic or boosting moves. It is more SDef then most Hippowdon because I wanted the both defenses to be close to even so it can take both physical and special attacks equally as well. Also from doing this people think that there best bet is to use a Special attacker which lets me get at least one free boost. Sadly though for this set is that it does not have cosmic power so the best boosting move for it is stockpile which caps at +3 Def/SDef. Even though it cannot get +6 in Def/SDef it still becomes extremely bulky with 3 stockpiles reaching 682 Def / 667 SDef. A common switch into Hippowdon like Rotom-w stands no chance as it only does 28.57-34.28% damage with hydro pump which can easily healed off by slack off.
Toxic is the main form of damage as I used it as a toxic staller. Just toxic the other pokemon and then just heal off any damage that they do to you. The other move I used for attacking is earthquake to take down some of the more annoying steel/poison types that it may have to face and to break subs. Also the sand storm is sometimes what needs to be used to kill pokemon like gengar, who can not kill Hippowdon when it is fully boosted. It also adds damage making toxic stalling a bit faster.
A lot of the battles that I used Hippowdon for ended in a rage quits because my opponent realized that he had nothing on his team to kill it. For this reason I did not save to many replays of Hippowdon owning because I normally like saving battles that don't end in rage quits. Anyways here are two replays that i did save that show Hippowdon in action.
This is when it was on my all weather team and was truly the only reason I won the battle.
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou8323024
The next one is when it was on my normal team.
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou8720683
While not perfect it still can destroy a team that is not prepared enough to kill it just with its sheer bulk.
Tornadus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Bit of a derpy set yes, I'm sure theres a better way to do it. Basically Rest/Sleep Talk are a form of recovery with priority. Sleep talk should get +1 priority thanks to prankster, so lulz can be had... 33% of the time...
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Bit of a derpy set yes, I'm sure theres a better way to do it. Basically Rest/Sleep Talk are a form of recovery with priority. Sleep talk should get +1 priority thanks to prankster, so lulz can be had... 33% of the time...
outclassed by gliscorWhen I got bored one day I made an all weather team, which sucked might I add. But there was one saving grace for this team and it was Hippowdon. I made a bulky one using the uncommon move Stockpile. After this I put it on my normal team to find out that it was just extremely powerful. So here it is my Hippowdon.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Stockpile
- Slack Off
- Toxic
- Earthquake
With OU teams today one thing that is very common to see is very powerful pokemon that use no boosting moves. These pokemon can be choiced, life orbed or just have no good boosting moves to use. This Hippowdon takes advantage of this trend and becomes so bulky that its hard for anything to kill it unless they have toxic or boosting moves. It is more SDef then most Hippowdon because I wanted the both defenses to be close to even so it can take both physical and special attacks equally as well. Also from doing this people think that there best bet is to use a Special attacker which lets me get at least one free boost. Sadly though for this set is that it does not have cosmic power so the best boosting move for it is stockpile which caps at +3 Def/SDef. Even though it cannot get +6 in Def/SDef it still becomes extremely bulky with 3 stockpiles reaching 682 Def / 667 SDef. A common switch into Hippowdon like Rotom-w stands no chance as it only does 28.57-34.28% damage with hydro pump which can easily healed off by slack off.
Toxic is the main form of damage as I used it as a toxic staller. Just toxic the other pokemon and then just heal off any damage that they do to you. The other move I used for attacking is earthquake to take down some of the more annoying steel/poison types that it may have to face and to break subs. Also the sand storm is sometimes what needs to be used to kill pokemon like gengar, who can not kill Hippowdon when it is fully boosted. It also adds damage making toxic stalling a bit faster.
A lot of the battles that I used Hippowdon for ended in a rage quits because my opponent realized that he had nothing on his team to kill it. For this reason I did not save to many replays of Hippowdon owning because I normally like saving battles that don't end in rage quits. Anyways here are two replays that i did save that show Hippowdon in action.
This is when it was on my all weather team and was truly the only reason I won the battle.
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou8323024
The next one is when it was on my normal team.
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou8720683
While not perfect it still can destroy a team that is not prepared enough to kill it just with its sheer bulk.
Victini @ Flame Plate
Trait: Victory Star
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- V-create
- Trick Room
- Bolt Strike
- Brick Break
Trick Room Victini is simple a beast and when it got Bolt Strike it becomes even better. With support from Stealth Rock Ninetales' Drought, you only need V-Create to do a lots of damages. Here are some damages which can help you to understand how V-Create is powerful:
V-create (sun) vs. 4/0 Latios: 96.35 - 113.24%
V-create (sun) vs. 4/252 Chansey: 109.03 - 128.5%
V-create (sun) vs. 4/252+ Chansey: 100 - 117.75%
V-create (sun) vs. 4/0 Rotom-W: 94.62 - 111.57%
V-create (sun) vs. 0/0 Dragonite (Multiscale broken): 78.01 - 91.95%
V-create (sun) vs. 0/0 Salamence: 87.91 - 103.32%
V-create (sun) vs. 248/216+ Jellicent: 55.83 - 66%
V-create (sun) vs. 4/252 Chansey: 109.03 - 128.5%
V-create (sun) vs. 4/252+ Chansey: 100 - 117.75%
V-create (sun) vs. 4/0 Rotom-W: 94.62 - 111.57%
V-create (sun) vs. 0/0 Dragonite (Multiscale broken): 78.01 - 91.95%
V-create (sun) vs. 0/0 Salamence: 87.91 - 103.32%
V-create (sun) vs. 248/216+ Jellicent: 55.83 - 66%
However, V-Create can't hit everything and Heatran, for example, can be very troublesome for Victini. Brick Break and Bolt Strike are both very good coverage moves, Brick Break allows to 2HKO any offensive version of Heatran and Bolt Strike allows to smash Politoed in the rain, which can switch into a V-Create. This set needs anyway some support to work well of course, Ninetales' Drought helps Victini a lot because it allows Victini to hit harder with V-Create and because it allows at the same to take less damages from Water-type moves, which is always good. Victini also appreciates that Stealth Rock isn't on its field so a Rapid Spin/Magic Bounce user is a good teammate for Victini too. This Victini can be also a good support for other Trick Room sweepers, such as Reuniclus Conkeldurr, Crawdaunt (lol) and so on, which appreciate all Victini's work. In short, this set is underrated but it can be very effective (if it's used correctly, of course) and it can do a lots of damages and support other sweepers as well, so you should try Trick Room Victini sometimes~
Not really, gliscor is really good don't get me wrong, execpt it can't take a special hit and also can't take an ice hit. Hippow can take both of these which at time can make him better when facing a enemy like cloyster and fast pokemon like latios that can OHKO gliscor.
The set is for when you're making a Sand team and need a good Hippo set with bulk to back up your team. Gliscor's good, but he doesn't have Sand Stream. Also, Ice destroys both, but especially Gliscor.
I made a half-competitive half-joke team a few days ago with the top 6 Pokemon in the 1337 (okay, more like 1850) stats all running weird sets (except Politoed because Flareon probably has more moves than that bitch). It was mostly a flop. Five Pokemon were Scarf Scizor, Scarf Politoed, Draco Meteor Jirachi, Gravity Ferrothorn and Swords Dance Keldeo. The one set that worked better than I thought, though, was this set:
Rotom-Wash @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 224 Spd / 252 HP / 32 SDef
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Light Screen
- Reflect
Dual screens Rotom-Wash! This actually works surprisingly well. Rotom-W can force a lot of switches, and studying team preview can give you a pretty good idea of what the opponent will switch into Rotom-W, letting you set up the proper screen. Then you can either set up the other screen or simply Volt Switch out. I haven't really tested this set outside of this particular team (why would I when I can use my stall team?), but it worked exceptionally well on this team and caught several of my opponents by surprise. Try it out :)
Rotom-Wash @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 224 Spd / 252 HP / 32 SDef
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Light Screen
- Reflect
Dual screens Rotom-Wash! This actually works surprisingly well. Rotom-W can force a lot of switches, and studying team preview can give you a pretty good idea of what the opponent will switch into Rotom-W, letting you set up the proper screen. Then you can either set up the other screen or simply Volt Switch out. I haven't really tested this set outside of this particular team (why would I when I can use my stall team?), but it worked exceptionally well on this team and caught several of my opponents by surprise. Try it out :)
I guess this is my kind of thread. Mostly I'm specialized in playing TR teams and I often wonder that this kind of playstyle isn't reflected in the suggested movesets for the best "bringers of trickroom" out there. :)
Therefore I would like to introduce a moveset which I love and which works on more then one Pokémon in several tiers and which I would simply call "Destiny Room".
Cofagrigus @ Leftovers (Dusknoir @ Leftovers / Dusclops @ Eviolite)
Trait: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Nightshade (Seismic Toss)
- Will-o-wisp/Toxic
- Destiny Bond
- Trickroom
How and when is it working?
The key to this set is the knowledge that DB always stays active until your next move is executed. So you switch in on a physical attacker and set up TR, which will in nearly every case make you the faster Pokémon. Now you can bring one of your TR sweepers or you got an opponent which you would like to drag down.
Let's say your opponents switches in Volcorona. What will happen? I can tell you Volcorona is already done or at least will have to change.
Why? TR is up and your opponent switched in Volci. Volci is using QD and you are using DB. Volci isn't stupid and simply keeps on dancing until your trick room ends.
What will happen?
You: DB (always be sure to use DB at the last round before TR ends!!)
Volci: QD
TR ends
You: TR
Volci: Attack!!
As you are slower for sure your DB is still up and will take it down with you.
Ok, Volci is smarter and knows that DB is still in place. In this case you will get a TR again and you can start with the mind games. Will you use DB or Night shade (or Toxic if you got it). As Night shade isn't influenced by stats you will do nice damage. If you are unlucky enough to get attack right at the time you attacked also you go down but TR is up and you simply revenge kill with Marowak/Azumerill/Snorlax/Ursaring/Machamp/Conkeldur and so on...
If you would have hit with Toxic or Will-o-wisp (incase your opponent is no fire Pokémon) it would be worn down slowly all time it doesn't attack fearing DB. Often it happens that they overlook that when they don't attack a nightshade together with burn/toxic is their end when - as you are faster - another nightshade followes. They simply missed the time to attack you at all.
That's how it works.
Your worst opponents are stallers with Toxic to mention Vaporeon in rain and things bringing spikes. So search for good partners for examply Bronzong/Escavalier can't be toxiced or Scrafty can simply get shed off Burn or Toxic while bulking up in TR. Conkeldurr/Ursaring even get stronger because of Guts. Also immune Curselax is quite surprising.
So this is TR moveset #1. What you thinking? :)
Therefore I would like to introduce a moveset which I love and which works on more then one Pokémon in several tiers and which I would simply call "Destiny Room".
Cofagrigus @ Leftovers (Dusknoir @ Leftovers / Dusclops @ Eviolite)
Trait: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Nightshade (Seismic Toss)
- Will-o-wisp/Toxic
- Destiny Bond
- Trickroom
How and when is it working?
The key to this set is the knowledge that DB always stays active until your next move is executed. So you switch in on a physical attacker and set up TR, which will in nearly every case make you the faster Pokémon. Now you can bring one of your TR sweepers or you got an opponent which you would like to drag down.
Let's say your opponents switches in Volcorona. What will happen? I can tell you Volcorona is already done or at least will have to change.
Why? TR is up and your opponent switched in Volci. Volci is using QD and you are using DB. Volci isn't stupid and simply keeps on dancing until your trick room ends.
What will happen?
You: DB (always be sure to use DB at the last round before TR ends!!)
Volci: QD
TR ends
You: TR
Volci: Attack!!
As you are slower for sure your DB is still up and will take it down with you.
Ok, Volci is smarter and knows that DB is still in place. In this case you will get a TR again and you can start with the mind games. Will you use DB or Night shade (or Toxic if you got it). As Night shade isn't influenced by stats you will do nice damage. If you are unlucky enough to get attack right at the time you attacked also you go down but TR is up and you simply revenge kill with Marowak/Azumerill/Snorlax/Ursaring/Machamp/Conkeldur and so on...
If you would have hit with Toxic or Will-o-wisp (incase your opponent is no fire Pokémon) it would be worn down slowly all time it doesn't attack fearing DB. Often it happens that they overlook that when they don't attack a nightshade together with burn/toxic is their end when - as you are faster - another nightshade followes. They simply missed the time to attack you at all.
That's how it works.
Your worst opponents are stallers with Toxic to mention Vaporeon in rain and things bringing spikes. So search for good partners for examply Bronzong/Escavalier can't be toxiced or Scrafty can simply get shed off Burn or Toxic while bulking up in TR. Conkeldurr/Ursaring even get stronger because of Guts. Also immune Curselax is quite surprising.
So this is TR moveset #1. What you thinking? :)
Valentine
Banned deucer.
even though nadus naturally outspeeds mosts of the things it needs to kill.. i like this set a lot. not revolutionary, but situaitonal and fun! c: just posting to say cool set.
if i were going to run it, which i admittedly probably wont, i'd do something like..
Tornadus @ Choice Specs
Trait: Prankster
-Hurricane
-Focus Blast
-Sleep Talk
You definitely don't want to roll Rest when you Sleep Talk, it's best to try to swap into Spore or something.
Hmm... I thought a bit about this set and I must say it really looks good to me. Dualscreen switch offensive. Nice combination.I made a half-competitive half-joke team a few days ago with the top 6 Pokemon in the 1337 (okay, more like 1850) stats all running weird sets (except Politoed because Flareon probably has more moves than that bitch). It was mostly a flop. Five Pokemon were Scarf Scizor, Scarf Politoed, Draco Meteor Jirachi, Gravity Ferrothorn and Swords Dance Keldeo. The one set that worked better than I thought, though, was this set:
Rotom-Wash @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 224 Spd / 252 HP / 32 SDef
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Light Screen
- Reflect
Dual screens Rotom-Wash! This actually works surprisingly well. Rotom-W can force a lot of switches, and studying team preview can give you a pretty good idea of what the opponent will switch into Rotom-W, letting you set up the proper screen. Then you can either set up the other screen or simply Volt Switch out. I haven't really tested this set outside of this particular team (why would I when I can use my stall team?), but it worked exceptionally well on this team and caught several of my opponents by surprise. Try it out :)
Gliscor does it better. What you lose in bulk you make up for in Speed. The only way you could make this set NOT outclassed is if you used Whirlwind over Toxic or Earthquake.When I got bored one day I made an all weather team, which sucked might I add. But there was one saving grace for this team and it was Hippowdon. I made a bulky one using the uncommon move Stockpile. After this I put it on my normal team to find out that it was just extremely powerful. So here it is my Hippowdon.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Stockpile
- Slack Off
- Toxic
- Earthquake
With OU teams today one thing that is very common to see is very powerful pokemon that use no boosting moves. These pokemon can be choiced, life orbed or just have no good boosting moves to use. This Hippowdon takes advantage of this trend and becomes so bulky that its hard for anything to kill it unless they have toxic or boosting moves. It is more SDef then most Hippowdon because I wanted the both defenses to be close to even so it can take both physical and special attacks equally as well. Also from doing this people think that there best bet is to use a Special attacker which lets me get at least one free boost. Sadly though for this set is that it does not have cosmic power so the best boosting move for it is stockpile which caps at +3 Def/SDef. Even though it cannot get +6 in Def/SDef it still becomes extremely bulky with 3 stockpiles reaching 682 Def / 667 SDef. A common switch into Hippowdon like Rotom-w stands no chance as it only does 28.57-34.28% damage with hydro pump which can easily healed off by slack off.
Toxic is the main form of damage as I used it as a toxic staller. Just toxic the other pokemon and then just heal off any damage that they do to you. The other move I used for attacking is earthquake to take down some of the more annoying steel/poison types that it may have to face and to break subs. Also the sand storm is sometimes what needs to be used to kill pokemon like gengar, who can not kill Hippowdon when it is fully boosted. It also adds damage making toxic stalling a bit faster.
A lot of the battles that I used Hippowdon for ended in a rage quits because my opponent realized that he had nothing on his team to kill it. For this reason I did not save to many replays of Hippowdon owning because I normally like saving battles that don't end in rage quits. Anyways here are two replays that i did save that show Hippowdon in action.
This is when it was on my all weather team and was truly the only reason I won the battle.
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou8323024
The next one is when it was on my normal team.
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou8720683
While not perfect it still can destroy a team that is not prepared enough to kill it just with its sheer bulk.
Gliscor does not learn stockpile. It is much harder to kill a sufficiently stockpiled Hippowdon without Toxic or P/Hazing. It really depends on whether you like being status proof (Gliscor), or being much tougher to kill without status(Hippowdon). Speed doesn't mean much, except for being able to act once before being taunted. Hippowdon also lacks a 4x weakness to Ice.
Plus lets not forget that Hipo is a weather inducer. Gliscor can't outclass Hippowdon cause Hippowdon plays a completely different role with the weather.
I have used stockpile Hippowdon in the past, and while once it sets up it is extremely bulky to take down, one toxic pretty much ruins you. But for lasting power as a weather inducer, its the vert best.
And if you have a cleric on your team, you will only have lost a chance to wall everything instead of a pokémon.
This is an interesting Hippowodon set. If you wish to compromise between the two, I would suggest running BOTH. So use the Hippowodon set exactly and then these two:When I got bored one day I made an all weather team, which sucked might I add. But there was one saving grace for this team and it was Hippowdon. I made a bulky one using the uncommon move Stockpile. After this I put it on my normal team to find out that it was just extremely powerful. So here it is my Hippowdon.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Stockpile
- Slack Off
- Toxic
- Earthquake
With OU teams today one thing that is very common to see is very powerful pokemon that use no boosting moves. These pokemon can be choiced, life orbed or just have no good boosting moves to use. This Hippowdon takes advantage of this trend and becomes so bulky that its hard for anything to kill it unless they have toxic or boosting moves. It is more SDef then most Hippowdon because I wanted the both defenses to be close to even so it can take both physical and special attacks equally as well. Also from doing this people think that there best bet is to use a Special attacker which lets me get at least one free boost. Sadly though for this set is that it does not have cosmic power so the best boosting move for it is stockpile which caps at +3 Def/SDef. Even though it cannot get +6 in Def/SDef it still becomes extremely bulky with 3 stockpiles reaching 682 Def / 667 SDef. A common switch into Hippowdon like Rotom-w stands no chance as it only does 28.57-34.28% damage with hydro pump which can easily healed off by slack off.
Toxic is the main form of damage as I used it as a toxic staller. Just toxic the other pokemon and then just heal off any damage that they do to you. The other move I used for attacking is earthquake to take down some of the more annoying steel/poison types that it may have to face and to break subs. Also the sand storm is sometimes what needs to be used to kill pokemon like gengar, who can not kill Hippowdon when it is fully boosted. It also adds damage making toxic stalling a bit faster.
A lot of the battles that I used Hippowdon for ended in a rage quits because my opponent realized that he had nothing on his team to kill it. For this reason I did not save to many replays of Hippowdon owning because I normally like saving battles that don't end in rage quits. Anyways here are two replays that i did save that show Hippowdon in action.
This is when it was on my all weather team and was truly the only reason I won the battle.
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou8323024
The next one is when it was on my normal team.
http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou8720683
While not perfect it still can destroy a team that is not prepared enough to kill it just with its sheer bulk.
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 204 HP/52 SpD/252 Spe
Nature: Jolly/Careful
-Fling/Taunt
-Protect/Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Acrobatics/Aqua Tail
This Gliscor abuses its Toxic Orb to strengthen Acrobatics while poisoning an opponent of choice, letting it take on a hybrid defensive-offensive role. Protect allows for Toxic/Poison Heal stalling, but Swords Dance can be used to boost attack higher still. Earthquake is arguably the best STAB in the game and hits many things hard, especially after a Swords Dance. Lastly, Acrobatics is great for STAB and a doubled power after the Toxic Orb is gone. If you don't want Acrobatics for whatever reason, Aqua Tail is the next best alternative due to the high frequency of rain teams. If not using Acrobatics, Taunt is a decent [aforementioned] alternative to Fling.
Cradily (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpA
Nature: Calm
-Giga Drain
-Ancientpower
-Recover
-Confuse Ray/Earth Power/Barrier/Block
Cradily is a surprisingly solid counter to many Pokemon commonly used on rain teams. Like Gastrodon, it can take water-type moves to boost its Special Attack. Unlike Gastrodon, it can take advantage of the Sandstorm by making it a special wall and having a STAB that Water-types are weak to. Giga Drain is great against Gastrodon, Rotom-W, etc. for doing major damage and for healing. Ancientpower is a nice STAB to hurt Ice-types that trouble this three-Pokemon core. If you are lucky enough to get the +1, Cradily can tank hits much better and boost its offensive presence significantly, but the 10% rate of this happening is not worth counting on. Recover is Cradily's main source of Recovery, obviously. Confuse Ray is a move I have found very useful for haxing the opponent, and it can force switches. There are alternatives, however. Earth Power is useful for Steel-types, especially Heatran, which Cradily can typically live at least one or two hits from (be careful with the defensive ones that run Toxic, though). Barrier is another decent alternative to make Cradily a mixed wall, letting it handle Fighting-type moves slightly better. Lastly, Block can be very deadly should your opponent mispredict, and depending on the opponent, will let you trap and eliminate it, or let you use it as set-up fodder. However, this is quite situational since the opponent can switch before you use Block.
To deal with Ice-types better, I would also suggest running Tyranitar. With this four-Pokemon defensive core, you have two special walls, two physical walls, and two Sand inducers.
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
Nature: Impish/Relaxed
-Stealth Rock
-Pursuit
-Stone Edge
-Superpower/Fire Blast/Toxic
This is somewhat a standard Tyranitar that gives itself a free 50% SpD boost from the Sandstorm it creates upon entry of the battlefield. Stealth Rock is great for residual damage, and should be a default move somewhere on every Sandstorm team since both inducers can learn it. Pursuit serves as the Psychic trap (and for Gengar), and makes Tyranitar even more useful. Stone Edge is Tyranitar's best physical STAB move. Superpower is great for Steel-types who resist the other moves, and Fire Blast is an alternative for Forretress, Breloom on the switch in, etc. The final alternative is Toxic since it fits onto stall teams very nicely.
Hopefully this doesn't count as a gimmick
Jirachi @salac berry
4HP 252SpAtk 252Speed Timid Nature
Substitute
Calm Mind
Psyshock/psychic/thunderbolt
Flash Cannon/thunderbolt
Recently I've been using this guy, and he's been extremely effective for me. As he's immune to sand storm, and packs sub to protect against priority Jirachi can be an effective pinch berry user. I prefer to use him late game after his threats have been removed. Sub blocks status and allows for controlled decrease of HP, calm mind boosts your offense, what ever two moves you pick you will be walled by something however. I prefer to partner him with magnezone and U-turn celebi to lure out and trap steel types as I run psyshock and flash cannon. He's works pretty well an any weather other than hail since it chips away his health. He has a massive move pool, but psyshock, flash cannon, and tbolt are pretty much your best options. Just be sure to pack team mates that can removes what ever resists his two chosen move. If psyshock and thunder bolt is used the Lati@s will wall you hard; so CB tar is a useful teamate.
Properly used late game he is a very unexpected sweeper, and many opponents will be caught off guard after the speed boost kicks in.
(I'm bad with EV spreads if there are different HP EV's for optimal subbing please point it out)
Jirachi @salac berry
4HP 252SpAtk 252Speed Timid Nature
Substitute
Calm Mind
Psyshock/psychic/thunderbolt
Flash Cannon/thunderbolt
Recently I've been using this guy, and he's been extremely effective for me. As he's immune to sand storm, and packs sub to protect against priority Jirachi can be an effective pinch berry user. I prefer to use him late game after his threats have been removed. Sub blocks status and allows for controlled decrease of HP, calm mind boosts your offense, what ever two moves you pick you will be walled by something however. I prefer to partner him with magnezone and U-turn celebi to lure out and trap steel types as I run psyshock and flash cannon. He's works pretty well an any weather other than hail since it chips away his health. He has a massive move pool, but psyshock, flash cannon, and tbolt are pretty much your best options. Just be sure to pack team mates that can removes what ever resists his two chosen move. If psyshock and thunder bolt is used the Lati@s will wall you hard; so CB tar is a useful teamate.
Properly used late game he is a very unexpected sweeper, and many opponents will be caught off guard after the speed boost kicks in.
(I'm bad with EV spreads if there are different HP EV's for optimal subbing please point it out)
Yeah when it comes to EVs, you want to give Jirachi 252 in HP and 252 in speed with a Timid nature. That gives him 101 HP subs, which means that Seismic Toss won't break them, allowing Jirachi to set up all over Chansey and Blissey. Other than that, the set looks ok. If you maintain your sub you should have an easy time sweeping. Though common Scarfers like Terrakion and Garchomp might give you some trouble even after the speed boost. I like it though! I really want to go test it.
I think that without leftovers, Jirachi won't be able to make up for the lack of power with more calm minds. Therefore, 252 sp. atk ev's.
Seismic toss is too situational. Also, without leftovers, Jirachi won't get enough substitutes to set up +6 against chansey or blissey.
This is something that, since quite some time, has been decaying in usage more and more, but it's still as good as always... or almost, anyway. Yes, it' not original, but I'll enter it with the underrated part of the thread.
Reuniclus
192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SpA (Or 252HP / 4Def if you like a slightly bigger chance to survive special attacks, but the on-site EVs looks better)
0Atk Ivs / 0 Spe IVs
Quiet Nature (+SpA, -Spe)
Magic Guard
-Psychic/Psyshock
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Trick Room
Yep, Trick Room Reuniclus! Best Reuniclus set available if you ask me, and a good check for a lot of fast threats, like Keldeo, Terrakion, Lati@s, Celebi, and Scarfers in general.
The idea is simple: Set up one something after something dies or a U-Turn/Volt Switch and start the killing. It's a pretty simple set, made to put those speedy pokés in their place, and very effective in that job. It also maintains Reuniclus status as an excellent stall counter. To be used alongside Pokés with priority, other fast pokémon and at least one slowish poké. Generally it will find its place in HO. Conkeldurr is a good partner, what with Mach Punch and that base speed. Beware of Scizor, though Focus Blast might hurt it pretty bad.
Reuniclus
192 HP / 64 Def / 252 SpA (Or 252HP / 4Def if you like a slightly bigger chance to survive special attacks, but the on-site EVs looks better)
0Atk Ivs / 0 Spe IVs
Quiet Nature (+SpA, -Spe)
Magic Guard
-Psychic/Psyshock
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Trick Room
Yep, Trick Room Reuniclus! Best Reuniclus set available if you ask me, and a good check for a lot of fast threats, like Keldeo, Terrakion, Lati@s, Celebi, and Scarfers in general.
The idea is simple: Set up one something after something dies or a U-Turn/Volt Switch and start the killing. It's a pretty simple set, made to put those speedy pokés in their place, and very effective in that job. It also maintains Reuniclus status as an excellent stall counter. To be used alongside Pokés with priority, other fast pokémon and at least one slowish poké. Generally it will find its place in HO. Conkeldurr is a good partner, what with Mach Punch and that base speed. Beware of Scizor, though Focus Blast might hurt it pretty bad.
Volcarona (M) @ Charti Berry / Passho Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 240 HP/160 Def/108 Spe
Nature: Bold
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast / Fiery Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
With a Charti Berry equipped, +1 Volcarona is able to tank a Stone Edge from the likes of Scarf Garchomp, Scarf Landorus, and even Scarf Terrakion. This allows Volcarona to QD up another time and kill Garchomp with Bug Buzz, Landorus with Fire Blast, and Terrakion with Giga Drain. However, if your team suffers more from the revenge killing likes of Keldeo, a Passho Berry can allow you to survive as long as you're not in the rain (iirc). Also has the benefit of letting you survive a CB Azumarill Aqua Jet (lol)
EVs are set up to outspeed Scarf Latios after two QD's. Not sure if that's a great benchmark but it's helpful in that the amount of bulk is perfect.
I love this.
Volcarona (M) @ Charti Berry / Passho Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 240 HP/160 Def/108 Spe
Nature: Bold
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast / Fiery Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
With a Charti Berry equipped, +1 Volcarona is able to tank a Stone Edge from the likes of Scarf Garchomp, Scarf Landorus, and even Scarf Terrakion. This allows Volcarona to QD up another time and kill Garchomp with Bug Buzz, Landorus with Fire Blast, and Terrakion with Giga Drain. However, if your team suffers more from the revenge killing likes of Keldeo, a Passho Berry can allow you to survive as long as you're not in the rain (iirc). Also has the benefit of letting you survive a CB Azumarill Aqua Jet (lol)
EVs are set up to outspeed Scarf Latios after two QD's. Not sure if that's a great benchmark but it's helpful in that the amount of bulk is perfect.
But, no matter what way I worked it I could never get Volcarona to ALWAYS survive Scarf Terrakion's Stone Edge with Charti, but I got the best spread I could come up with. 144 HP / 252 Def / 112 Spe Bold allows for ScarfTerra to only do 88.18 - 104.32% (31.25% chance to OHKO) with Stone Edge and 66.28 - 78.38% with Rock Slide, which isn't too bad. Other tinkerings didn't lessen that by anything... I also raised the Speed up to 112 to hit the 264 sweet spot to outrun Jolteon and company at +1 so you don't have to eat a Thunder/Wave or something to kill it after a boost. The standard "bulky spread" being implemented on Volcarona's analysis to be defensive AND hit that 264 spot(240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe Timid) did not help in taking that stupid Terrra Stone Edge, in case you were curious.
Not sure why you weakened Volcarona's overall bulk, seeing as how with the spread that I posted, 252Atk Neutral Scarf Terrakion only does 61% - 72% to Charti Volcarona, so as long as Volc didn't take SR damage, it can bypass Terrakion. Although, I agree with shifting 4 speed EV's to beat Jolteon and co.
Unfortunately I didn't think of Charti when Scarf Terrakion was at its prime, as now Keldeo's usurpation makes this Volcarona set unreliable. But otherwise, it gets past pretty much every scarfer, even Mence.