Hey everyone. I’ve been battling on Shoddy on and off for the past few weeks, and I have a team I’d like some help with. So, without further ado, let me present you with…
Bringing Cressy
Back
(Yeah!)*
I wish I had some sort of cool background story about how I was inspired to make this team, but I don’t. What can I say, I’m just not an exciting guy. I can, however, tell you the story of how I went about designing it. Let’s begin at the beginning…
“Salamence? I thought this team was built around Cresselia! It’s right there in the title, you idiot!” Yeah, well, OK…that title isn’t completely honest. To be fair though, “Bringing Salamence Back” just doesn’t sound cool. Nor does it make a lick of sense, seeing as our fat blue friend is already a staple of OU. Anyway, back to the point. I wanted a powerful setup sweeper that could rip through a team if given half a chance. Dragon Dance Salamence seemed a natural choice.
#2 – Cresselia
Ah, Cresselia. It might seem strange to give a levitating female duck control over the moon, but it sure is cool. What’s not cool is how Cresselia, a Pokemon hyped as an Uber during the early days of the Fourth Gen, has now fallen to relative obscurity in the Borderline tier. Knowing this, why did I pick her? Simple: I wanted a Pokemon that could lure in Scizors and Scarftars without fail and eliminate them, leaving Mence free to sweep. At first, I was going to go with a MysticGar and Magnezone combination to get rid of the pesky red mantis, but then I decided to try something new. Plus, Cressy looks like a regal lunar goddess, and Gengar looks like a pedophile. So there.
All jokes aside, you’re probably wondering how Cresselia manages to counter threats like Choice Band Scizor and Choice Scarf Tyranitar, the two very common Pokemon that were largely responsible for her fall from grace in the first place. Just wait and see…
#3 and #4 – Scizor and Jirachi
Despite the bone-crushing power of Cresselia’s Base 75 Special Attack, some daring opponents will occasionally try to set up on her. Dragon Dance Gyarados and Calm Mind Latias like to think that they can come in on Cress and start grabbing boosts for free. I couldn’t let this happen, so I needed Pokemon who could stop these popular setup sweepers in their tracks.
As you’ll see later, my Cresselia doesn’t have Moonlight, and my DD Mence doesn’t have Roost. In fact, no members of my team have any means of recovery bar Leftovers. I clearly needed Wish support, but I was unsure which Wisher would be best for my team. Blissey was too Stall-ish, Togekiss wasn’t bulky enough, and Latias was a third Pursuit weakness. In the end, I settled on Vaporeon. She takes hits like a champ, and can heal herself with Water Absorb too.
#6 – Swampert
Now I needed was a lead who could get Stealth Rock up consistently and handle threats like Tyranitar and Scizor if Cresselia failed. Swampert fit all these criteria.
Now it’s time for the fun stuff!
Pokemon Sets
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP/ 4 Attack / 252 Defense
Moves: Earthquake, Ice Beam, Stealth Rock, RAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!!!
My MixPert starts the show running a pretty standard set. He usually gets up Stealth Rock, but if it doesn’t work out he can always switch back in later and use it again. I run Protect to scout for random Grass moves, gain free turns of Leftovers recovery, and waste the PP of moves like DynamicPunch. I’ve considered Roar for some potential pseudo-hazing, but I haven’t been owned by a Baton Pass team just yet, so I’ll let it go for now. Plus, there is no better feeling than Protecting on a predicted Explosion.
Edits: It makes me a lot more reliant on my not-so-great (read - terrible) prediction skills, but after two posters suggested it I gave Swampert Roar over Protect. Hopefully, it will help with my TormentTran weakness and embarrass a few BP teams.
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Defense / 68 Special Defense
Moves: Surf, Wish, Protect, Hidden Power (Electric)
Specially based MixApe is a big threat to my team, KOing my Swampert, Salamence, and Scizor with Grass Knot, Hidden Power Ice, and Fire Blast respectively. Another big threat to my team is repeated entry hazard damage, since I have no Rapid Spinner. Well, luckily, both of those problems can be addressed with the same awesomely cute Pokemon – Vaporeon! I may sound like an infomercial host right now, but seriously, Vappy is great. She supports her teammates with Wish and can really do some damage to Gliscor and Heatran with those STAB Surfs. I was considering running Yawn on her, but Toxic got the go-ahead because my team really doesn’t have much to gain from forcing switches.
Edits: Previously, Vaporeon had Toxic in place of Hidden Power Electric. But after both ginganinja and azntrumpet pointed out my weakness to Taunt Gyarados (and DD Gyarados if my Cresselia is gone), I decided to pack HP Electric to surprise that big bully. Plus, now I can actually do something to Poliwrath and offensive Suicine.
Moar Edits: Finally found the typo azntrumpet pointed out, and put the Speed EVs in Special Defense to better help against MixApe.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Attack / 8 Speed
Moves: Bullet Punch, Superpower, U-Turn, Pursuit
Is there anything I can say about this thing that hasn’t already been said? Scizor is a beast, both competitively and aesthetically. I’m running the standard EV set with him here, which is actually new to me. In most of my previous teams, I ran 32 Speed to beat other Scizors if the match came down to a Bullet Punch war. But since the whole point of this team is to eliminate Scizor before the end of the match, I decided it wasn’t worth it.
Unless I am presented with a really golden opportunity, I usually scout with U-Turn early in the match to rack up some damage and avoid being trapped by Magnezone. Bullet Punch and Pursuit let me play mind games with any Latias, Gengar, or Celebi that switch in on Cresselia and try to KO or status her. I imagine Superpower would help me against Cursing Snorlax who try to set up on Cress, although I have yet to see one of these. When all is said and done, Scizor is just a great all-around partner for Cresselia. He resists all her weaknesses, destroys Tyranitar and Salamence, and can help lure Ground and Fighting moves for her to switch in and absorb.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Moves: Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Iron Head, Trick
Edits: Well, I don't know...how about the entire freakin' Pokemon? Rotom wasn't pulling his weight, so I replaced him with a Choice Scarf Jirachi...or as I like to call him, Sir Hax-a-Lot. Thing is, this particular Jirachi won't be haxing anyone that much, thanks to the absence of Iron Head. With my bulky MixPert and a Cresselia set designed specifically to lure out and kill Tyranitar, I didn't feel like I needed such a hard counter for everyone's (least) favorite T-rex. I'll list the other moves I chose, in case you can't read them in that annoying yellow font: Ice Punch is there to eliminate Salamence and Flygon, Thunder Punch deals with Gyarados, and Fire Punch helps me not be complete bait for Magnezone and (to a lesser extent) Scizor. I threw on U-Turn too to help with scouting.
With her better coverage, nice resistances, and lack of a Pursuit weakness, Jirachi is just a better choice than Rotom-C. You're probably all going to all roll your eyes at this, but please believe me - originally, Jirachi was slated to be in Rotom's spot, but I felt like that made me weak to Swampert. But then I realized something...I have a Cresselia with Grass Knot! What the heck was I smoking?*
*Was I smoking a Grass Knot?
Moar Edits: After giving Vappy Hidden Power Electric, Thunder Punch seemed like a waste of Jirachi's precious moveslots. As Twist of Fate pointed out, Iron Head's STAB and illegally high Flinch rate are too good to pass up, even if I don't care about Tyranitar. Not satisfied with one excellent idea, Twist also suggested putting Trick in place of U-Turn in order to cripple Crocune and TormentTrans who try to switch in on me.
Well, not exactly “spamming”. Scarftars will always be 2HKOd by this girl's Grass Knot, and Scizor has a very good chance of being OHKOd with Rocks up. By my count, I’ve beaten two Scizors and one Tyranitar so far using this method. People just don’t understand how beastly Cressy is behind a Reflect. The last move (Toxic) is a big surprise to anything not Steel or Poison. It’s a bit situational, but it has its uses, particularly when the opposing team doesn’t have a cleric.
Edits: If I'm going to rely on Cresselia to counter Swampert (see my new entry for Jirachi) and be more than an unorthodox Scizor/Tyranitar lure, I've got to have some means of recovery. Tyranitar's sandstorm annoyingly cuts said recovery down to a dismal 33%, but considering Cresselia's awesome defenses, I'll still be able to heal up from a lot of unboosted neutral attacks - especially since my Defense has now been elevated to new heights by the awesome power of four extra EVs! (cue Super Saiyan sound effect from Dragon Ball Z) Seriously though, every little bit helps. Kudos to azntrumpet for pointing out my mistake.
Moar Edits: Call me a flip-flopper, but I ended up changing Moonlight back to Toxic. In a metagame where Tyranitar is on over 20% of teams, using a recovery move whose power gets cut in half in Sandstorm is asking for trouble. I'll have to rely on Vaporeon for Wish Support.
Edits: Mence kept dying from Life Orb recoil, missing with Fire Blast, and getting owned by Steels when he was locked onto Outrage. At the suggestion of Skull Candy, I gave him Leftovers instead of Life Orb and maxed out his attack. His Flamethrower actually still 2HKOs Special Defensive Skarmory (57-67%) and will roast any Scizor that get past Cress. Dragon Claw is less powerful than Outrage (especially now that I don't have Life Orb) but it's nice to not have to enter a rage attack just to kill, say, a Rotom with 20% health. Swampert will stop my sweep cold now, but Cress and Vaporeon both deal with him.
From my experience reading RMTs, this is usually the part where I’m supposed to talk about the accomplishments I’ve had with this team. Mine are decidedly modest – I’ve won all the matches I’ve played with these guys, but I’ve only had them for seven matches! Therefore, the reason I wrote this RMT is probably a little different than most. I’m not trying to show off my skills, but to get help with some problems I’ve been having.
#1 – Living Up to My Own Mission Statement. While this team is winning, I feel as if it’s not doing so in the polished, strategic way I intended. Sometimes, Cresselia eliminates Scizor and Mence can safely set up a Dragon Dance. But all too often, I feel like I’ve lost control of the situation. I win by hax or dumb luck, with one of my Pokemon managing to get in a random sweep. What changes could help me better fulfill my mission statement?
#2 – Status. I find myself getting Statused left and right while using this team, particularly if Swampert is gone and I have nothing to absorb Paralysis. Is there any spot on the team that could accommodate a cleric?
#3 – TormentTran. I’ve faced him twice, and both time’s he’s been a royal pain. Any suggestions?
#4 - Not getting pictures to work. I had a bunch of sweet sprite pictures for my team building section, and now you guys won't get tol see them because they didn't go through when I copied them in. No, instead they appeared as random links that revealed my freakin' first name to the entire online world! LOL, it's a good thing none of you are pedophiles like Gengar... :naughty:
#5 - Machamp. After taking Protect off Swampert and replacing Rotom with Jirachi, I worry about how I'll deal with Machamps, particularly lead ones that like to spam Dynamicpunch all over the place. Everyone on my team really hates being Confused, and I'm confused about what I can do to stop this big hunk of muscle. Thoughts?
I’m welcome to any and all criticism, but please remember that I really do want to try and keep Cresselia on the team, and in her current role as a Scizor/Tyranitar lure.
Thanks for reading! I'll try and make an actual Threat List after a few more battles.
*At the advice of my lawyer, I have never, ever heard of a song called SexyBack.
Bringing Cressy Back
(Yeah!)*
Team Building Process
#1 – Salamence
“Salamence? I thought this team was built around Cresselia! It’s right there in the title, you idiot!” Yeah, well, OK…that title isn’t completely honest. To be fair though, “Bringing Salamence Back” just doesn’t sound cool. Nor does it make a lick of sense, seeing as our fat blue friend is already a staple of OU. Anyway, back to the point. I wanted a powerful setup sweeper that could rip through a team if given half a chance. Dragon Dance Salamence seemed a natural choice.
#2 – Cresselia
Ah, Cresselia. It might seem strange to give a levitating female duck control over the moon, but it sure is cool. What’s not cool is how Cresselia, a Pokemon hyped as an Uber during the early days of the Fourth Gen, has now fallen to relative obscurity in the Borderline tier. Knowing this, why did I pick her? Simple: I wanted a Pokemon that could lure in Scizors and Scarftars without fail and eliminate them, leaving Mence free to sweep. At first, I was going to go with a MysticGar and Magnezone combination to get rid of the pesky red mantis, but then I decided to try something new. Plus, Cressy looks like a regal lunar goddess, and Gengar looks like a pedophile. So there.
All jokes aside, you’re probably wondering how Cresselia manages to counter threats like Choice Band Scizor and Choice Scarf Tyranitar, the two very common Pokemon that were largely responsible for her fall from grace in the first place. Just wait and see…
#3 and #4 – Scizor and Jirachi
Despite the bone-crushing power of Cresselia’s Base 75 Special Attack, some daring opponents will occasionally try to set up on her. Dragon Dance Gyarados and Calm Mind Latias like to think that they can come in on Cress and start grabbing boosts for free. I couldn’t let this happen, so I needed Pokemon who could stop these popular setup sweepers in their tracks.
#5 – Vaporeon
As you’ll see later, my Cresselia doesn’t have Moonlight, and my DD Mence doesn’t have Roost. In fact, no members of my team have any means of recovery bar Leftovers. I clearly needed Wish support, but I was unsure which Wisher would be best for my team. Blissey was too Stall-ish, Togekiss wasn’t bulky enough, and Latias was a third Pursuit weakness. In the end, I settled on Vaporeon. She takes hits like a champ, and can heal herself with Water Absorb too.
#6 – Swampert
Now it’s time for the fun stuff!
Pokemon Sets
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP/ 4 Attack / 252 Defense
Moves: Earthquake, Ice Beam, Stealth Rock, RAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!!!
My MixPert starts the show running a pretty standard set. He usually gets up Stealth Rock, but if it doesn’t work out he can always switch back in later and use it again. I run Protect to scout for random Grass moves, gain free turns of Leftovers recovery, and waste the PP of moves like DynamicPunch. I’ve considered Roar for some potential pseudo-hazing, but I haven’t been owned by a Baton Pass team just yet, so I’ll let it go for now. Plus, there is no better feeling than Protecting on a predicted Explosion.
Edits: It makes me a lot more reliant on my not-so-great (read - terrible) prediction skills, but after two posters suggested it I gave Swampert Roar over Protect. Hopefully, it will help with my TormentTran weakness and embarrass a few BP teams.
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Defense / 68 Special Defense
Moves: Surf, Wish, Protect, Hidden Power (Electric)
Specially based MixApe is a big threat to my team, KOing my Swampert, Salamence, and Scizor with Grass Knot, Hidden Power Ice, and Fire Blast respectively. Another big threat to my team is repeated entry hazard damage, since I have no Rapid Spinner. Well, luckily, both of those problems can be addressed with the same awesomely cute Pokemon – Vaporeon! I may sound like an infomercial host right now, but seriously, Vappy is great. She supports her teammates with Wish and can really do some damage to Gliscor and Heatran with those STAB Surfs. I was considering running Yawn on her, but Toxic got the go-ahead because my team really doesn’t have much to gain from forcing switches.
Edits: Previously, Vaporeon had Toxic in place of Hidden Power Electric. But after both ginganinja and azntrumpet pointed out my weakness to Taunt Gyarados (and DD Gyarados if my Cresselia is gone), I decided to pack HP Electric to surprise that big bully. Plus, now I can actually do something to Poliwrath and offensive Suicine.
Moar Edits: Finally found the typo azntrumpet pointed out, and put the Speed EVs in Special Defense to better help against MixApe.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Attack / 8 Speed
Moves: Bullet Punch, Superpower, U-Turn, Pursuit
Is there anything I can say about this thing that hasn’t already been said? Scizor is a beast, both competitively and aesthetically. I’m running the standard EV set with him here, which is actually new to me. In most of my previous teams, I ran 32 Speed to beat other Scizors if the match came down to a Bullet Punch war. But since the whole point of this team is to eliminate Scizor before the end of the match, I decided it wasn’t worth it.
Unless I am presented with a really golden opportunity, I usually scout with U-Turn early in the match to rack up some damage and avoid being trapped by Magnezone. Bullet Punch and Pursuit let me play mind games with any Latias, Gengar, or Celebi that switch in on Cresselia and try to KO or status her. I imagine Superpower would help me against Cursing Snorlax who try to set up on Cress, although I have yet to see one of these. When all is said and done, Scizor is just a great all-around partner for Cresselia. He resists all her weaknesses, destroys Tyranitar and Salamence, and can help lure Ground and Fighting moves for her to switch in and absorb.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Moves: Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Iron Head, Trick
Edits: Well, I don't know...how about the entire freakin' Pokemon? Rotom wasn't pulling his weight, so I replaced him with a Choice Scarf Jirachi...or as I like to call him, Sir Hax-a-Lot. Thing is, this particular Jirachi won't be haxing anyone that much, thanks to the absence of Iron Head. With my bulky MixPert and a Cresselia set designed specifically to lure out and kill Tyranitar, I didn't feel like I needed such a hard counter for everyone's (least) favorite T-rex. I'll list the other moves I chose, in case you can't read them in that annoying yellow font: Ice Punch is there to eliminate Salamence and Flygon, Thunder Punch deals with Gyarados, and Fire Punch helps me not be complete bait for Magnezone and (to a lesser extent) Scizor. I threw on U-Turn too to help with scouting.
With her better coverage, nice resistances, and lack of a Pursuit weakness, Jirachi is just a better choice than Rotom-C. You're probably all going to all roll your eyes at this, but please believe me - originally, Jirachi was slated to be in Rotom's spot, but I felt like that made me weak to Swampert. But then I realized something...I have a Cresselia with Grass Knot! What the heck was I smoking?*
*Was I smoking a Grass Knot?
Moar Edits: After giving Vappy Hidden Power Electric, Thunder Punch seemed like a waste of Jirachi's precious moveslots. As Twist of Fate pointed out, Iron Head's STAB and illegally high Flinch rate are too good to pass up, even if I don't care about Tyranitar. Not satisfied with one excellent idea, Twist also suggested putting Trick in place of U-Turn in order to cripple Crocune and TormentTrans who try to switch in on me.
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Defense / 252 Special Attack
Moves: Reflect, Grass Knot, Hidden Power (Fire), Toxic
Finally, here's the star of the show! With her incredible bulk and Ground immunity, Cresselia is surprisingly easy to switch in. I like to send her in on something that can’t do a lot of damage to her. Anyway, once she’s in, most people will immediately bring in their Scizor or Tyranitar if they have one. Expecting this, I’ll always use Reflect on my first turn in. Then I start spamming Hidden Power Fire or Grass Knot, depending on what comes in.
Well, not exactly “spamming”. Scarftars will always be 2HKOd by this girl's Grass Knot, and Scizor has a very good chance of being OHKOd with Rocks up. By my count, I’ve beaten two Scizors and one Tyranitar so far using this method. People just don’t understand how beastly Cressy is behind a Reflect. The last move (Toxic) is a big surprise to anything not Steel or Poison. It’s a bit situational, but it has its uses, particularly when the opposing team doesn’t have a cleric.
Edits: If I'm going to rely on Cresselia to counter Swampert (see my new entry for Jirachi) and be more than an unorthodox Scizor/Tyranitar lure, I've got to have some means of recovery. Tyranitar's sandstorm annoyingly cuts said recovery down to a dismal 33%, but considering Cresselia's awesome defenses, I'll still be able to heal up from a lot of unboosted neutral attacks - especially since my Defense has now been elevated to new heights by the awesome power of four extra EVs! (cue Super Saiyan sound effect from Dragon Ball Z) Seriously though, every little bit helps. Kudos to azntrumpet for pointing out my mistake.
Moar Edits: Call me a flip-flopper, but I ended up changing Moonlight back to Toxic. In a metagame where Tyranitar is on over 20% of teams, using a recovery move whose power gets cut in half in Sandstorm is asking for trouble. I'll have to rely on Vaporeon for Wish Support.
Salamence @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Naïve
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Moves: Dragon Claw, Dragon Dance, Flamethrower, Earthquake
Dragon Dance Salamence is one of the most threatening setup sweepers in the game today. Those three moves give him perfect coverage backed by sky high attacking stats on both ends of the spectrum. Those EVs assure that Fire Blast will 2HKO 252/0 Impish Skarmory, which is definitely nice. I chose Naïve over Naughty in order to tie with Scarfed Revenge killers like Jirachi, who I hate with the burning passion of a thousand beached whales...when he's not on my own team, that is. Swampert threatens to stop my sweep (as I don’t have a chance of OHKOing him without a Naughty Nature) but hopefully I have Rotom-C and Cresselia waiting in the wings to KO him with their respective Grass moves.
Edits: Mence kept dying from Life Orb recoil, missing with Fire Blast, and getting owned by Steels when he was locked onto Outrage. At the suggestion of Skull Candy, I gave him Leftovers instead of Life Orb and maxed out his attack. His Flamethrower actually still 2HKOs Special Defensive Skarmory (57-67%) and will roast any Scizor that get past Cress. Dragon Claw is less powerful than Outrage (especially now that I don't have Life Orb) but it's nice to not have to enter a rage attack just to kill, say, a Rotom with 20% health. Swampert will stop my sweep cold now, but Cress and Vaporeon both deal with him.
Conclusion
#1 – Living Up to My Own Mission Statement. While this team is winning, I feel as if it’s not doing so in the polished, strategic way I intended. Sometimes, Cresselia eliminates Scizor and Mence can safely set up a Dragon Dance. But all too often, I feel like I’ve lost control of the situation. I win by hax or dumb luck, with one of my Pokemon managing to get in a random sweep. What changes could help me better fulfill my mission statement?
#2 – Status. I find myself getting Statused left and right while using this team, particularly if Swampert is gone and I have nothing to absorb Paralysis. Is there any spot on the team that could accommodate a cleric?
#3 – TormentTran. I’ve faced him twice, and both time’s he’s been a royal pain. Any suggestions?
#4 - Not getting pictures to work. I had a bunch of sweet sprite pictures for my team building section, and now you guys won't get tol see them because they didn't go through when I copied them in. No, instead they appeared as random links that revealed my freakin' first name to the entire online world! LOL, it's a good thing none of you are pedophiles like Gengar... :naughty:
#5 - Machamp. After taking Protect off Swampert and replacing Rotom with Jirachi, I worry about how I'll deal with Machamps, particularly lead ones that like to spam Dynamicpunch all over the place. Everyone on my team really hates being Confused, and I'm confused about what I can do to stop this big hunk of muscle. Thoughts?
I’m welcome to any and all criticism, but please remember that I really do want to try and keep Cresselia on the team, and in her current role as a Scizor/Tyranitar lure.
Thanks for reading! I'll try and make an actual Threat List after a few more battles.
*At the advice of my lawyer, I have never, ever heard of a song called SexyBack.
I really think Cresselia already "supports" my team just by luring Scizor in, setting up Reflect, etc. If you think Moonlight's a waste, maybe I could replace it with another support move? I had Toxic on there originally, but I'm wondering if Thunder Wave might be better.
