Sand VoltTurn Hazard-Abusing Stall

[Hallucination]

Hello Smogon,
Please don't get mad at me if I spell a pokemons name wrong XP I tried the best I could.

I would like to welcome you to the first ever Sand VoltTurn Hazard-Abusing Stall! (There might have been one in the past, but I havent seen it so im taking credit :p)

How this team came about.
(Awkward 10 minutes trying to find Hide tags...)

So I started off with Hippodown and Im searching around smogon for some good sets. And somehow, this team ended up. I think the only true changes I added were Fortress and Jellicent. I already know of the Celebi + Heatran synergy as well as Smogon telling me Rotom-W work well, so I was like okay I need spikes, spinner (Maybe not but I cant stand spikes on my side), and a spin blocker. The team came together, and I wont lie its not perfect, but I have used this team for probably about a month and I cant find any changes. I tried but nothing seems to have worked as well as the original.

How this team works/Goals of the team.

The main object of this team is to win. Thats obvious, right? But how exactly do I go about that? Its really simple enough. Just wall until you can do something useful. What I mean by that, is I just wall pokemon until I can lay down SR, Spikes, Toxic something, or kill something.

The foe's Toxicroak used Drain Punch!
Forretress lost 129 HP! (36% of its health)
Forretress had its energy drained!
The foe's Toxicroak is hurt by its Life Orb!
 
Forretress used Spikes!
Spikes were scattered all around the feet of [Dynasty]Johnnyk121's team!

That is basically what I strive for. Spikes. Everything seems to die faster when they are down. Heatran usually lays down SR when it forces switches, I toxic/wisp switch ins, and pretty much Stall and kill. VoltTurn is nice because it keeps momentum as well as deals damage.

And one more thing. If you arent good at predicting there is a good chance you will lose. I mean its not all prediction, and if you mispredict a few times it wont kill you, but you have to be a pretty good predictor.

First Glance


For some reason this isnt working and IDK why not.
Closer Look - After First Glance didnt work I gave up with Pictures.

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 232 HP / 52 SAtk / 224 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

This set is just the standard Bulky Special attacker. I run 264 instead of 263 (I think the standard set is 263) so I can outspeed everything that runs 263. Rotom-W is a great and useful pokemon for this team. It really completes the VoltTurn core, as forretress isnt really much of a volt turner. It also acts a great Anti-Lead, being able to check/counter Politoeds, and do decently against ninetails. Hydro pump, Volt Switch, and Will-o-wisp are obvious, but im not so sure if I like Pain Split. It is unreliable, and I use it sometimes, but not often enough to find it meaningful. Im not sure if there is a better move I can replace it with though. Rotom-W is a great check/counter to Skarmory, Lando-I, Lando-T (With wisp, or course.) Hippowdon, Heatran, just to name a few. Some of these pokemon would give me problems otherwise, some are double checked/countered. I feel as if I can do without Rotom-W, but the edits I have made have said otherwise. It also acts like a revenge killer, because I know it can tank a hit and have enough Sp. Attack to finish off pokemon.
Example of how bulky ~

The foe's Terrakion used Close Combat!
Rotom-W lost 264 HP! (88% of its health)
The foe's Terrakion's Defense fell!
The foe's Terrakion's Sp. Def. fell!
The foe's Terrakion is hurt by its Life Orb!
 
Rotom-W used Will-O-Wisp!
The foe's Terrakion was burned!
Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers!
 
The foe's Terrakion was hurt by its burn!

Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Ice Fang
- Whirlwind

Hippowdon is the next pokemon in line for this team. In my opinion, Hippowdon is very unrated. Not only is it a physical wall and obvious what it can and cant wall, it does even more then that.

Start of turn 45
The foe's Landorus used Earth Power!
Hippowdon lost 339 HP! (80% of its health)
 
Hippowdon used Ice Fang!
The attack of Hippowdon missed!
The sandstorm rages.
 
Hippowdon restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

So as I knew I could tank it from past experiences and raging a little bit over that miss that costed me the game, it shows just how valuable Hippowdon is. The reason why I went with this set is because of how useless Hippowdon is without Ice Fang, and how hard it is to set up both SR and Spikes from 2 physical walls. As you can see, Ice Fang allows it to check/counter more things then it could before, and it is very much needed.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Recover
- Perish Song

When I first looked at the Smogon set, I was like Woah, thats a lot of options. I ended up with this. Celebi did not have to be my SR user, so I went with the Perish Song/ U-Turn combo. Celebi is the only pokemon on this team with U-Turn, so it is important to have. It keeps the momentum going, and helps hit things for decent damage that it wouldn't do so great against other wise. I found Psychic more important over Giga Drain for some reasons. This team has some trouble against some fighting types, so I needed Psychic. It also hits poison types like Gengar and Toxicroak, but I cant seem to remember the few pokemon I actually changed it for XD. Perish song is a must because I cannot tell you how useful it is. Sub DD Gyarados, Calm Mind Reuniclus, and BP in general would sweep this team if not for that move. They could switch, but with Hazards they are limited, but that is what makes Reuniclus a huge problem. It also walls Rotom-W, Keldeo, Lando-I, and others. It is also useful to end the game on a Perish Song, which I cannot tell you how often I do that. The one thing I do not like though is how easily Celebi gets trapped by Scizor and TTar. Otherwise it is flawless.

Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect
- Stealth Rock

This is a standard Heatran set. I decided to put SR on this set because Heatran forces switches and can lay down SR a lot easier than Hippowdon. Heatran walls many things like Lati@s (not carrying surf) Venusaur (Not carrying EQ) Dnite (Not carrying EQ) Special defensive Celebi, Volcarona (Not carrying HP ground) just to name a few. Lava Plume is a must, Toxic is a must, and Protect is a must to scout and to recover some Leftovers. Since it does not have a recovering move extra leftovers are critical since a lot of the time it gives it that extra HP to survive one more attack.

Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch

This is a very standard Forretress set. It has 0 speed IVS for max Gyro Ball damage, as well as slowest Volt Turner as possible to gain momentum. Forretress is really just here to set up spikes and spin. Its not a waste though because he is hard to set up on due to Gyro Ball. He also has good synergy with Hippowdon, him being able to take grass and ice extremely well, as well as decent Water hits. He counters the likes of Terrakion (takes a close combat and I believe OHKO's with Gyro Ball), and many other physical attackers. I feel like there are better pokemon then forretress, but I really dislike hazards on my side as I do a lot of switching.

Jellicent (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Toxic
- Recover

Jellicent is probably the most important and useful pokemon on this team. It is the standard set, but I put Toxic in over Taunt. Taunt wasnt very useful, and there were some pokemon that just needed to be toxic'd. It is arguably the best Spin Blocker in the game, as well as an amazing wall. It can take Special hits, Physical hits anything you throw at it. I love seeing a TTar or Scizor switch in trying to trap it just to get wisped. It also walls Keldeo, Toxicroak and many other Physical attackers it wisps. The water absorb is amazing for this team in my opinion.

Exportable

(Again Struggling with the Hide)
 
Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Ice Fang
- Whirlwind
 
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 232 HP / 52 SAtk / 224 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
 
Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Recover
- Perish Song
 
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
 
Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch
 
Jellicent (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Toxic
- Recover

That was my team, and I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for taking the time to read through and rate it (If you did/going to).

 

[Hallucination]

Reserved for threat list ~

Alakazam- Soft check/counter it with Forretress (Sturdy still intacted), Hippowdon, Celebi, Heatran and Jellicent. Decently check it with Rotom-W

Gengar- Soft check/counter it with Forretress (Sturdy still intacted), Hippowdon, Celebi, Heatran and Jellicent. Decently check it with Rotom-W

Sub Mixed Kyurem-

Lando-I- Soft checked by Hippowdon, Rotom-W, Celebi, and Jellicent.

Venusaur (With Dug partner)- Hope that forretress still has Sturdy. XD

 

[Laurel]

First off, I think you need pictures, or else your thread might get locked, but here is my rate.

The first impression I have of your team is that it is out right stall, closer to semi-stall because Celebi and Rotom-W can provide some offense. The synergy of your team is also very good, Celebi and Heatran work really well together + Sand definitely does a good job wearing down your opponents. The first change I'd do to your team is I'd give Heatran Toxic over Stealth Rock, this makes it a much better protect staller, and makes it so Tran can hard wall many special attackers. In this case, I'd drop Ice Fang on Hippo for Stealth Rocks. Now you can Stealth Rock right away with your lead which I think gives you a huge advantage.

I'm also not quite sure what momentum you are getting with a volt switch. Your team is really stally, it's not like you're slow turning into a sweep which can set up. Maybe I'd give HP Ice a try over Volt Switch to hit dragons, but just to try it out, because with my other recs you know longer have ice fang on Hippo.

I'm not too good with stall, but to take full use of your volt switching if you keep it on Forretress, is I'd try out a reflect type CM latias, with this set.

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Recover
- Reflect Type

116 Speed makes you faster than Jolly DNite before it gets a DDance, Jolly Mamoswine, and Jolly Gyarados. Basically all +Nature 80 speed mons and base 90 neutral speed nature mons like Lucario. Calm Mind gives you a chance at late game sweeping, once your opponent is completely warn down by hazards it's nice to have a clearer. Reflect Type means so you can't be pursuit trapped by Tyranitar, also it can come in handy end game when you really don't want your dragon psychic typing. You can also try out Substitute > Reflect Type to wall status, it's a preference thing.

Anyways, Latias still has nice synergy with your team, and is excellent paired with Heatran, it also gives you a chance at sweeping which you otherwise don't have with Celebi. Hope this helps.

 

[Hallucination]

First off, I think you need pictures, or else your thread might get locked, but here is my rate.

The first impression I have of your team is that it is out right stall, closer to semi-stall because Celebi and Rotom-W can provide some offense. The synergy of your team is also very good, Celebi and Heatran work really well together + Sand definitely does a good job wearing down your opponents. The first change I'd do to your team is I'd give Heatran Toxic over Stealth Rock, this makes it a much better protect staller, and makes it so Tran can hard wall many special attackers. In this case, I'd drop Ice Fang on Hippo for Stealth Rocks. Now you can Stealth Rock right away with your lead which I think gives you a huge advantage.

I'm also not quite sure what momentum you are getting with a volt switch. Your team is really stally, it's not like you're slow turning into a sweep which can set up. Maybe I'd give HP Ice a try over Volt Switch to hit dragons, but just to try it out, because with my other recs you know longer have ice fang on Hippo.

I'm not too good with stall, but to take full use of your volt switching if you keep it on Forretress, is I'd try out a reflect type CM latias, with this set.

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Recover
- Reflect Type

116 Speed makes you faster than Jolly DNite before it gets a DDance, Jolly Mamoswine, and Jolly Gyarados. Basically all +Nature 80 speed mons and base 90 neutral speed nature mons like Lucario. Calm Mind gives you a chance at late game sweeping, once your opponent is completely warn down by hazards it's nice to have a clearer. Reflect Type means so you can't be pursuit trapped by Tyranitar, also it can come in handy end game when you really don't want your dragon psychic typing. You can also try out Substitute > Reflect Type to wall status, it's a preference thing.

Anyways, Latias still has nice synergy with your team, and is excellent paired with Heatran, it also gives you a chance at sweeping which you otherwise don't have with Celebi. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the Rate! I would add pictures, but First Glance wasnt working at all, and I cant edit my posts anymore XP

I tried out Latias before, and I can honestly tell you I failed with it. I used the standard set though, but I will try yours.

 

[Princess Bubblegum]

Interesting team, I was actually experimenting with Volt-turn stall a bit back with mixed results, good to see that someone else was to. My team was pretty similar, but with Scizor / Roserade / Tentacruel over Forretress / Celebi / Tentacruel, note the synergy is very similar but the specific support roles are switched around, you may want to toy with that if you have time. Scizor worked really good to further the volt-turn punishment, but unfortunately Tentacruel was a bit of a weak link.

This team is pretty solid as far as I can tell, the main weaknesses I spot are CB-Terrakion and Alakzam / Gengar, all of which I think can be played around with. Dragon spam also seems to be a bit of an issue, as if they break through Hippowdon, they can usually then dismantle Forretress and sweep, especially if they have Magnezone.

One idea I have perhaps is Slowbro over Hippowdon, as overall they cover the same weaknesses, and their threats are covered by other Pokemon pretty well. In return you get a much better Terrakion check, and something which can stand of to dragon even better. This does leave you without sand though, and a bit weaker to Tyranitar, as well as redunant typing with both Slowbro and Jellicent. So I am just suggesting it as something to toy with, it might work, it might not.

A tiny nitpick, but give Heatran 8 speed to out speed adamant Breloom.

Also, I suggest you run 52 speed evs on Jellicent, that way to outspeed CB Scizor all the time (8 speed) and opposing Jellicents. Furthermore, I highly suggest you give Taunt another try on Jellicent, it helps a lot vs opposing defensive teams, and other teams to shut them down. If you want though, Ice Beam might be worth considering, to aid against Dragons-types.

This is a really solid team man so thats all I have, good luck.

 

[Hallucination]

Interesting team, I was actually experimenting with Volt-turn stall a bit back with mixed results, good to see that someone else was to. My team was pretty similar, but with Scizor / Roserade / Tentacruel over Forretress / Celebi / Tentacruel, note the synergy is very similar but the specific support roles are switched around, you may want to toy with that if you have time. Scizor worked really good to further the volt-turn punishment, but unfortunately Tentacruel was a bit of a weak link.

This team is pretty solid as far as I can tell, the main weaknesses I spot are CB-Terrakion and Alakzam / Gengar, all of which I think can be played around with. Dragon spam also seems to be a bit of an issue, as if they break through Hippowdon, they can usually then dismantle Forretress and sweep, especially if they have Magnezone.

One idea I have perhaps is Slowbro over Hippowdon, as overall they cover the same weaknesses, and their threats are covered by other Pokemon pretty well. In return you get a much better Terrakion check, and something which can stand of to dragon even better. This does leave you without sand though, and a bit weaker to Tyranitar, as well as redunant typing with both Slowbro and Jellicent. So I am just suggesting it as something to toy with, it might work, it might not.

A tiny nitpick, but give Heatran 8 speed to out speed adamant Breloom.

Also, I suggest you run 52 speed evs on Jellicent, that way to outspeed CB Scizor all the time (8 speed) and opposing Jellicents. Furthermore, I highly suggest you give Taunt another try on Jellicent, it helps a lot vs opposing defensive teams, and other teams to shut them down. If you want though, Ice Beam might be worth considering, to aid against Dragons-types.

This is a really solid team man so thats all I have, good luck.

.
Thanks for the Rate!

Wow cool :) I thought I was the only one who was using VoltTurn... Successfully. CB Tar cannot get by Jellicent/Hippowdon, so as mentioned before this team is prediction :) Dragons are not a threat since I have Heatran :D Jellicent isnt too bad either :) Alakazam and Gengar are weaknesses, but I do seem to have soft counters to them. I would add them to my Threat list, but I can't edit it XP.


I actually tried putting on Slowbro over Rotom-W, and that failed too. I will try it over Hippowdon though.

I dont know about Taunt, as that Jellicent set really works. I normally have the edge against Defensive teams because I put up hazards and keep them off by spinning or forcing switches.

 

[MCBarrett]

hey mikey, interesting team you have here. I definitely give you props for attempting stall in the current metagame! Your team is rather solid and has some nice defensive cores but I do have some suggestions that hopefully will help your team be more successful.

I'll start off with changes in your pokes. The biggest weakness I see to your team is sun offense. Although you do have Heatran, sun teams usually carry a Dugtrio to trap it or put EQ on their Venusaurs, knowing that Heatran is the biggest wall to their team. Once Heatran is gone, Venusaur can easily sweep the rest of your team. For this reason I would recommend replacing Celebi with a Calm Mind Latias. Not only does Latias give Venusaur a ton of trouble but it gives your team some much needed offensive presence.
I would use the following set:
Latias @ leftovers
Bold 252 hp/ 140 def/ 116 speed
Dragon Pulse
Roost
Calm Mind
HP Fire

I would use HP Fire to have another way to take out things like Ferrothorn as there is really no way you would be able to with your current team if Heatran was taken out.

Next, on your Rotom-W I would recommend making it a RestoChesto Set by simply switching your item to a Chesto Berry and Pain Split to Rest. This would give you a more reliable form of recovery than Pain Split, allowing your Rotom-W to last longer.

Lastly on your Jellicent, I would change your Move Set and your EV spread, using the following set:
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Bold Nature 248 hp/ 176 def/ 84 speed
Scald
Toxic
Taunt
Recover

This set does some great things that would really help your team against opposing stall. First of all, at that speed, Jellicent outspeeds neutral uninvested base 70's. These include Politoed and Skarmory most notably. Therefore, with this set you can Taunt before Politoed has the chance to Toxic you, or before Skarmory has the chance to set up hazards or Taunt you. Also, getting rid of Will-o-Wisp is not a big deal on your team since you have it on your Rotom-W, and you have a 30% chance to burn with Heatran's Lava Plume and Jellicent's Scald. Taunt will give you the upper hand against opposing stall and will make it much easier to wear down those teams despite having a more defensive team.

Also, if you decide to keep Celebi, you can use Baton Pass instead of U-Turn so you do not get trapped by the likes of Scizor or Tyranitar.

Hopefully you find my advice helpful, good luck with the team and let me know how it works!

 

[Hallucination]

hey mikey, interesting team you have here. I definitely give you props for attempting stall in the current metagame! Your team is rather solid and has some nice defensive cores but I do have some suggestions that hopefully will help your team be more successful.

I'll start off with changes in your pokes. The biggest weakness I see to your team is sun offense. Although you do have Heatran, sun teams usually carry a Dugtrio to trap it or put EQ on their Venusaurs, knowing that Heatran is the biggest wall to their team. Once Heatran is gone, Venusaur can easily sweep the rest of your team. For this reason I would recommend replacing Celebi with a Calm Mind Latias. Not only does Latias give Venusaur a ton of trouble but it gives your team some much needed offensive presence.
I would use the following set:
Latias @ leftovers
Bold 252 hp/ 140 def/ 116 speed
Dragon Pulse
Roost
Calm Mind
HP Fire

I would use HP Fire to have another way to take out things like Ferrothorn as there is really no way you would be able to with your current team if Heatran was taken out.

Next, on your Rotom-W I would recommend making it a RestoChesto Set by simply switching your item to a Chesto Berry and Pain Split to Rest. This would give you a more reliable form of recovery than Pain Split, allowing your Rotom-W to last longer.

Lastly on your Jellicent, I would change your Move Set and your EV spread, using the following set:
Jellicent @ Leftovers
Bold Nature 248 hp/ 176 def/ 84 speed
Scald
Toxic
Taunt
Recover

This set does some great things that would really help your team against opposing stall. First of all, at that speed, Jellicent outspeeds neutral uninvested base 70's. These include Politoed and Skarmory most notably. Therefore, with this set you can Taunt before Politoed has the chance to Toxic you, or before Skarmory has the chance to set up hazards or Taunt you. Also, getting rid of Will-o-Wisp is not a big deal on your team since you have it on your Rotom-W, and you have a 30% chance to burn with Heatran's Lava Plume and Jellicent's Scald. Taunt will give you the upper hand against opposing stall and will make it much easier to wear down those teams despite having a more defensive team.

Also, if you decide to keep Celebi, you can use Baton Pass instead of U-Turn so you do not get trapped by the likes of Scizor or Tyranitar.

Hopefully you find my advice helpful, good luck with the team and let me know how it works!

Thank you so much for your rate! Sun teams with Venusaur give me a lot of trouble. I finally remember I put on psychic for Celebi to do more damage to Venusaur. I do concur, Venusaur gives this team problems. The way I counter it is Heatran, and I look at Venusaur as one way to counter it- 5 move slot syndrome. It cant carry all the moves it needs to have perfect coverage against my team, so someone has to be able to wall it. Believe it or not, Celebi can take an HP fire in sun and strike back with Psychic. If Forretress is at 100%, I can hit it with Gyro Ball. Dugtrio does mess things up a bit XP

I will try that Rotom-W and Latias sets, thanks for the Suggestion!

On Jellicent, The moves are definitely staying. Jellicent literally comes out 2x as any other pokemon in the match, and if its not Celebi finishing its Jellicent. There is no way I could take out Wisp on Jellicent. That is what keeps it from being trapped by Scizor, TTar, and wall many other Physical sweepers such as Toxicroak, Terrakion and others by being able to take a hit and wisp it, then recover off the damage. I will try your EVs though!

 

[MCBarrett]

Thank you so much for your rate! Sun teams with Venusaur give me a lot of trouble. I finally remember I put on psychic for Celebi to do more damage to Venusaur. I do concur, Venusaur gives this team problems. The way I counter it is Heatran, and I look at Venusaur as one way to counter it- 5 move slot syndrome. It cant carry all the moves it needs to have perfect coverage against my team, so someone has to be able to wall it. Believe it or not, Celebi can take an HP fire in sun and strike back with Psychic. If Forretress is at 100%, I can hit it with Gyro Ball. Dugtrio does mess things up a bit XP

I will try that Rotom-W and Latias sets, thanks for the Suggestion!

On Jellicent, The moves are definitely staying. Jellicent literally comes out 2x as any other pokemon in the match, and if its not Celebi finishing its Jellicent. There is no way I could take out Wisp on Jellicent. That is what keeps it from being trapped by Scizor, TTar, and wall many other Physical sweepers such as Toxicroak, Terrakion and others by being able to take a hit and wisp it, then recover off the damage. I will try your EVs though!

If you don't want to get rid of Will-o-Wisp on Jellicent then you could try using a moveset of Shadow Ball, Taunt, Will-o-Wisp and Recover. I have used this set before and it works very effectively. Shadow Ball is nice to hit opposing Jellicent, Xatu and any Lati@s switch ins, plus you already have Toxic on some of your other Pokes. If you decide not to run Taunt though (Which I highly recommend) there is no need for running as much speed as I suggested so just stick to the standard spread in that case.

 

[Plus]

Hi there.

Your team has a solid defensive core, but I'm seeing some potential problems with faster sweepers -- generally anything above base 100 speed is enough to give your team problems. You can switch around as many times as you'd like and wall your team, but you have to be wary that as you keep on switching, your team wears down just as much as your opponent's. Landorus-I in particular can 2HKO all of your pokemon with the Sheer Force LO set, and while you can attempt to justify this weakness through prediction and the use of soft checks, it's not very reliable considering you have to take a hefty hit regardless with any of your pokemon to kill it off. Even though you are using a defensively oriented team, speed is very demanding in the metagame.I'm looking at this team and I see particular difficulties with Alakazam and Gengar as well, both which are fast sweepers who have decent coverage enough to threaten nearly everything on this team. As MCBarrett stated before, the only thing keeping you from getting swept by Sun Offense is Heatran, who is picked off easily by Dugtrio. While this problem can be avoided through prediction, I'd generally want more insurance against these styles of play, and not rely solely on skill when there are potential improvements on your team to be made.

Looking at how you wanted to make this team, I don't want to change much to the core of your team, and it seems to me that Rotom-W is the most expendable of your team, although it fits in nicely with your other members. In order to check these threats, you may want to consider scarfing your Rotom -- and while you lose bulk in the process, you gain the ability to pick off threats before they are able to do substantial damage to your pokemon. I'm looking at the damage calc you gave for your Rotom against a Terrakion; if you were faster than Terrakion in the first place, you wouldn't even need to tank a LO CC from it, and could just pick it off with Hydro Pump before having to nearly sack your pokemon.

Or perhaps you may want to try CB Scizor instead, whose speed is compensated through the use of Bullet Punch, one of the most efficient checks to quick threats such as Venusaur given that you are able to weaken it (which you can, via entry hazards). This also helps when trying to prevent a Landorus-I sweep, because Scizor can pick off many weakened pokemon before they can deal substantial damage to your team simply because of how slow it is. It can also help against SD Chomp, DD Mence if they are given the opportunity to set up, and also reinforces your U-turn/Volt Switch mechanic on which you built this team upon. With Spikes support, Voltturning is one of the most potent strategies, especially with CB Scizor in the mix.

The way I see it, you need some speed on this team, and if you were to Scarf Rotom or replace it with CB Scizor, you could fix this problem a little bit without changing too much in the overall idea and theme of this team. Good luck! =)

 

[Jukain]

Hi there, Mikey! After we last talked I've tested your team out some and found some pretty crippling weaknesses. You're weak to Kyurem-B. You're weak to any Calm Mind Latias, especially SubCM and Refresh CM. You're never breaking Cresselia pretty much unless you somehow manage to hit it with a Toxic, which could come back to bite you against those teams with Xatu. Honestly, I find Celebi not fulfilling much of a purpose. Its defensive utility is honestly rather limited, as U-turn Landorus and Hidden Power Bug Keldeo wreck it. You have an insane issue with faster things, as Plus pointed out. If Tyranitar comes in, you just lost your Celebi. Well, and then your Jellicent. While it's effective at stalling in the strictest sense of the term, your team has difficulty against...well...repeated attacks, lol. There are a couple ways you can go about this, but I think a Swords Dance Scizor with Roost is the best way to go about it. That gives you an important Gengar, Kyurem-B, and Lati twin check without entirely compromising your team. It gives you priority, and a Cloyster check. While not all of these roles are strictly needed, I find Scizor to be almost a necessity on your team.

I still say get rid of Celebi, for the reasons mentioned above. I don't find it doing that much, and its role is better filled by other Pokemon. While experimenting with options, I came across Wish support attacker Latias. It's a pretty odd choice, but there are a couple reasons to run it. I'm talking a set of Roost / Wish / Hidden Power Fire / Psyshock. I'd say go 152 HP / 104 SAtk / 252 Spd with a Timid Nature. This is a very specifically tailored Latias that works perfectly on this team. Psyshock is invaluable for Keldeo, Terrakion, Toxicroak, Conkeldurr, etc. With Heatran dead, your team can't break Ferrothorn really at all. It just won't happen unless you manage to burn it with Jellicent -- and I don't think any Ferrothorn user is stupid enough to switch it into a possible burn. That's why Hidden Power Fire is run. Wish is for Forretress, which you currently have no way of healing once it's been worn down. Latias can still handle Landorus relatively well and will never lose to Keldeo unless the opponent predicts -- but you have Jellicent as an out for it anyway. This Latias provides a couple ultra specific things that your team honestly really needs. The EVs provide optimal bulk and ensure that (with the 152 HP EVs) Latias can always handle Keldeo.

I think your Jellicent set can be improved. Honestly, I think your best bet is to get rid of Toxic. The last thing you want to do is Toxic the wrong thing and get fucked because you couldn't burn it then. Toxic honestly doesn't have too many uses other than "general wearing down", which you already have quite a bit of. Run Taunt instead. Taunt is simply invaluable, from preventing opposing Toxics to hazards being set up to preventing Reuniclus and Conkeldurr from setting up and much much more. I couldn't stand not having Taunt on Jellicent when I used it. With that, run an EV spread of 248 HP / 176 Def / 84 Spd. This enables you to outrun bulky Politoed and most Skarmory. It also makes sure you outrun almost all Scizor, which is incredibly important so that you can burn it before it Pursuits you or whatever. The loss of bulk is negligible, while the payoff of the higher Speed is far from it.

With these changes, your team is overall more well-rounded and has the tools it needs to succeed in this metagame.

Sets:
Scizor @ Leftovers
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 40 Atk / 220 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Roost

Latias @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 152 HP / 104 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Roost
- Wish
- Hidden Power Fire
- Psyshock

tl;dr

• Bulky Swords Dance Scizor > Rotom-W
• Attacker Support Latias > Celebi
• Taunt > Toxic and 248 HP / 176 Def / 84 Spd > current on Jellicent

Good luck!