Team Blitzkrieg - V3

Hello, Smogon! This is hopefully the FINAL version of Team Blitzkrieg, a team that's come a long way since its humble origins (mentioned in my following post). I've peaked at around a 1550 rating on the Standard ladder, which is decent, but far from the best.

I suppose the most interesting thing about this team is that it is a team of partnerships. With some examination, you can find that Team Blitzkrieg is composed of three hyper-offensive duos that all manage to not complement only their partners, but the other duos in the team as well.

At a glance:
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Analysis

Starmie@Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA, 4 SpD, 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Hydro Pump
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Rapid Spin

I've lost horribly to stall teams in the past, and a spinner was essential. Starmie suffers from moveslot syndrome here, as I'd like to get Recover and Grass Knot as well, but there's little I can eliminate (except maybe Thunderbolt) that wouldn't hurt me too badly. Starmie is not only a great anti-lead (and even an anti-anti lead, dealing with enemy Machamp well) but she can spin. Starmie speed ties with Azelf and can do way more damage to it with Hydro Pump than it can with Fire Blast. In addition, if I lose Starmie to an Azelf's Explosion, I'm not too worried about losing my spinner since any team leading with Azelf is probably not a Stall team to begin with.

Starmie gives my team an Ice move coming off of respectable Special Attack, something that I sorely lacked with Celebi. Even though Salamence and Latias have both moved to Ubers, Flygon and Dragonite are still big threats. While Starmie can't exactly switch in on either of them, with the right prediction, I can handle both pretty easily.


Metagross
@Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 100 HP, 252 Atk, 152 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Stealth Rock
-Meteor Mash
-Bullet Punch
-Earthquake

This used to be a TrickScarf Metagross, but I disliked the problems I had with Aerodactyl and my Trick getting Taunted. So I switched to a standard Metagross lead carrying Bullet Punch over Trick and it's been working very well. Fragile leads that tend to Taunt me are taken out rather easily. Rocks go up 90% of the time (Infernape and Heatran are problematic) and I Explode when I can. I've done some testing with the Occa Berry, but the Lum Berry has proven to be better against lead Machamp (and the increasingly frequent lead Roserade).
Earthquake has been added over Explosion simply because the non-Scarfed version of Metagross isn't fast enough to pull off decent Explosions at low health.

The tag-team lead system of Starmie and Metagross has proven to be incredibly effective, with each switching on each others weaknesses. Starmie is a solid lead against almost anything nowadays, and I can switch Metagross in on pesky things like Roserade that go for the Leaf Storm/Energy Ball against Starmie. Metagross is my Rocks Pokemon, but I don't need SR to sweep entire teams.


Gyarados@Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 SpD, 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Earthquake
-
Bounce

After some testing, Bounce has proven to be superior to Stone Edge in coverage and usefulness. Bounce is great for Spore dodging, and I've heard that you can dodge Explosion with it if you're good enough (that last point is directed mainly towards Exploding Heatran).It has been extremely useful in dealing with Breloom and Machamp, and the two turns of Leftovers recovery helps as well. But two offensive moves just weren't cutting it, and Adamant BulkyGyara is just too slow to make decent use of Taunt. Thus I swapped Taunt out for Earthquake and switched my old spread to an offensive Jolly 252/252 set.


Breloom@Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 42 HP, 252 Atk, 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Spore
-Focus Punch
-Seed Bomb
-Substitute

For the most part, it's a regular Breloom that can carry out SporePunch. I run Seed Bomb for type coverage. Many players choose to run Leech Seed, but Seed Bomb has been a life-saver in so many scenarios, especially against Pokemon like Swampert or Milotic that try to come in. I've swept multiple teams with just Breloom numerous times; he's an absolute monster in this metagame, especially with the disappearance of Latias (and the Suspect nature of Salamence).

Breloom is one of the star players of this team; I have come back from 5-2 games with a Substitute+Focus Punch sweep. He also rounds out my resistances quite nicely; he absorbs Stone Edges and Earthquakes easily and heals off excess damage with Poison Heal.


Heatran@Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Atk, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Naive Nature
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Hidden Power Ice / Grass
-Explosion

ScarfTran. Quite frankly I'm still debating Shuca Berry over the Scarf. Fire Blast is great for power, although I have lost more than one battle because it missed. Flamethrower, however, just doesn't have the raw power that Fire Blast has. Earth Power to hit other Heatrans, although this does have some trouble against Shuca variants. HP Ice because this team tends to have a hard time with Dragons and Heatran can serve as a decent revenge killer, if not a sweeper. However, in the past, HP Grass has served me extremely well, stopping enemy Swamperts that switch in. Explosion is standard. The biggest problem here is choosing Shuca Berry or Choice Scarf; while Shuca Berry lets me survive enemy Earth Powers / Earthquakes occasionally, Choice Scarf helps me get the jump on many slower threats.


Rotom-H@Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-Will-O-Wisp
-Trick

Rotom was introduced to the team over Jolteon. He's worked beautifully. While Jolteon is a great sweeper, he's much too frail, and can be OHKOed by even non-SE physical attacks. Scarf Rotom, on the other hand, has great defenses and absolutely amazing typing, while retaining that Electric resistance. My team also had a tendency to struggle with Stall, so a TrickScarf Rotom really helps against stall teams.


However, after seeing a SubSplit Rotom at work, I've been debating with switching out TrickScarf for SubSplit. Opinions are greatly appreciated.

Strategy

The first step to this team is synergy. If you recall in the opening of this RMT, I said that Blitzkrieg is about three powerful duos. The first is Starmie+Metagross. Starmie is amazing against just about every lead that Metagross has trouble with (notably Infernape and Heatran) while taking out many others. Metagross switches in on anything that Starmie can't handle (most importantly Roserade).

The second duo is the powerful combo of Gyarados and Rotom. Dragon Dance Gyarados, once it sets up, is nearly impossible to stop until you bring in something faster than it. The Pokemon in the past that were able to stop DDGyara were either physical walls, such as Skarmory, or fast sweepers, like Jolteon and enemy Rotom. My own Rotom can come in on Thunderbolts from Electric-types or Brave Birds from Skarmory and strike back with the attack of his choice. With a Scarf on my Rotom, I outspeed any non-Scarfed other Rotoms, and if they're Scarfed, they're stuck on Thunderbolt anyway. Rotom is also an extremely potent offensive threat on its own, much like Gyarados.

The third and final duo is HeatLoom. While many players run a Shuca Berry on Heatran to cover its Ground weakness, I have three team members that can take Earthquakes and just keep on coming. Breloom switches in on Heatran's biggest counter - bulky waters - and sets up on them with ease. The only real threat is CroCune at this point, and even it can be dealt with with repeated Seed Bombs.

It's a very simple team in that you can just all-out sweep. Compared to teams that center around something like Swords Dance Lucario to sweep, this team has 5 attackers that can just pile on the damage. Gyarados, Breloom, and Heatran are three of the most feared Pokemon in the OU metagame.

A general game plan is to set up Rocks with Metagross and swap out to something else, or to Explode if you can. With the hyper-offensive pace that this team packs, you can force a lot of switches and rack up a lot of residual damage. The switches also give you plenty of time to set up a Dragon Dance with Gyarados, especially after Exploding and getting a free switch-in.

If one was to try to compose a general overview or purpose of the team, it would be to use incredibly deadly Pokemon that all manage to cover each other's weaknesses. Rotom has got Gyarados's back when it comes to Electric attacks, while Rotom and Gyarados both switch in on Ground-type moves that hurt Heatran. Breloom can come in on the Rock moves that hurt quite a few members of this team. Knowing your counters and prediction are key elements of this team.

Questions

I have two main questions at this point. One is whether I should stick with my ScarfTran, or instead switch to a standard Heatran carrying Shuca Berry. My other question is whether I should run SubSplit (or even RestTalk) on my Rotom set. No matter what, this team has performed extremely well for me in the past, and it hasn't let me down yet.
 
Team Building Process

I was a complete novice to battling around two weeks ago. After some friends at school showed me the diversity of the game, I read up on it a bit. And a combo that I was completely in love with was Gyaravire.



It was interesting to me how Gyarados's biggest weakness, electricity, could be harnessed by Electivire's Motor Drive ability and used against the enemy. Face it, Gyarados is one of the most threatening forces in the OU metagame, and an Electivire with 142 base Speed is terrifying. Gyarados has incredible power and bulk; Electivire has strength and fantastic type coverage. And both cover each other's weaknesses; Gyarados switches in on Earthquakes, Electivire switches in on Thunderbolts.

I'll admit it; I'm not an original person right when I jump into things. Give me a month or two, and I'll be cranking out the strangest OU teams you can think of, but whenever I start something, I go tried-and-true. Off of a Gamespot forum, I noticed another combo someone posted called HeatLoom. This was immediately appealing to me, for obvious reasons.



We all know Breloom as the lovable, plush fighting figure that has us screaming "DIE ALREADY YOU WHORE" as it repeatedly Spores and Focus Punches us. Three of its notable weaknesses; Fire, Flying and Psychic; are all easy Heatran switch-ins. Heatran's major weakness, Ground, is resisted by Breloom (Gyarados can switch in just as easily). This team combo gives me lots of resistances, lots of checks to my weaknesses, and quite a diverse movepool. I'm also aware that it's just as plausible to use Celebi and Heatran together, but I've always disliked Celebi. I acknowledge its power, but I just don't like it. >.>


I noticed at this point that a lot of my combinations were based around switching out of obvious weaknesses, and this might lead to predictability and being out-maneuvered. I wanted a dedicated sweeper, one with balls, one that could stay in on its threats and shout "HELL, NO" at them. I thought three Pokemon instantly: Tyranitar, Lucario, and Salamence. Tyranitar gives us three weaknesses to the most common offensive move in the game, Earthquake, as does Lucario, and Salamence is just plain better in this meta. So I went with Mence. I needed a lead now.


Metagross is, hands-down, my favorite Pokemon in any of the games. It's probably the cry that makes me so preferential towards it (seriously, it comes out and goes "META" in a really deep voice). It's bulky and it gets the job done. It can take Earthquakes and return them, it can set up Rocks, it can Explode, and it has a priority move. Instant fit.



However, after some testing on ShoddyBattle, it was found that Jolteon does leagues better than Electivire. It's faster, and can function as a deadly sweeper without the aid of Motor Boost. In addition, it can carry Hidden Power Ice to cover Dragons and Grass-types, while its Speed and Special Attack both trump that of Electivire.


Then, of course, came Salamence's untimely move to the Suspect category. If it ever goes up to Uber (likely), Dragonite is there. However, don't get the idea that it's being used as a replacement. With the right set, Dragonite has insane type coverage and can be just as formidable of a sweeper as Salamence was, with its massive Attack stat and better bulk.



But after a while, Dragonite just wasn't cutting it. The main problem I had was with Machamp, especially any variant carrying a Lum Berry (most of them). I decided to slap Celebi on the team to deal with this weakness, while also spreading status. However, this last slot is the one I'm iffiest on. I've been considering Rotom for a while. Feedback here especially is appreciated.


Per a suggestion from Plus, I replaced Jolteon with Rotom-H. As I explained in the moveset analysis, Jolteon, while a fast sweeper, is far too frail to stay in on Pokemon like Machamp. Scarf Rotom, on the other hand, retains its speed (outspeeding 252 Spe Jolly Gyarados 100% of the time) while being bulky enough to take a Payback from Machamp, if it has to. Rotom also has useful dual STAB, but the primary reason he is used is because of his reasonable defenses.


Finally (I hope this is the last update I have to make here), I went with the tag-team of Starmie and Metagross, both taking out almost any common lead. Starmie finally gives me an answer to stall, which I was consistently losing to. I lost Celebi here, which wasn't a big deal as he really wasn't doing much anyway. In return, I gained a valuable sweeper, spinner, and excellent partner to Metagross.
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Threat List [Lead]

Azelf
-Standard Taunt/SR/Fire Blast/Explosion: I speed tie here. The most reliable course is to switch out into Rotom and Shadow Ball. However, sometimes I feel adventurous and go for the Hydro Pump. >:)
-Colbur Berry Lead: See above. No big deal, seeing as I don't use Machamp.
-Nasty Plotter: Once I see Nasty Plot go up, I've probably already switched to Rotom or have gotten a Hydro Pump go up. Starmie takes little damage from Flamethrower and Psychic, while Grass Knot only has 80 base power. Rotom is a solid switch-in here too.

Infernape
-Starmie walls a lot of Infernape's moves. Grass Knot only comes off of 80 base power, so that's not too bad. Hydro Pump away.

Metagross
-This is almost always a switch-out for them, so I either go with the Thunderbolt or swap to my own Metagross to get Rocks up.

Jirachi
-Almost every single move in Jirachi's moveset is resisted by Metagross. I can't risk staying in when I have no super-effective moves and Jirachi could be Scarfed and carrying Thunderpunch. Metagross is my most solid switch-in.

Aerodactyl
-"Smart Aerodactyl users will Rock Slide and go for the flinch chance and the 2HKO." Staying in with Starmie is risky. I can switch to Metagross to go for Meteor Mash+Bullet Punch, but oftentimes they'll already have gotten Rocks up and done some serious damage with Earthquake or swapped out. Generally I'll risk the flinch chance, stay in with Starmie, and Hydro Pump+Rapid Spin.

Swampert
-Swampert is a switch-out into Breloom, who can outspeed and Spore, followed by a Substitute into a Seed Bomb. Starmie itself can do some hefty damage with Surf, but not without taking some fire from Earthquake.

Bronzong
-Not much I can do here. Swap to Metagross, set up Rocks, and switch to Heatran or Breloom.

Tyranitar
-This is bad. Few lead Tyranitars carry Pursuit, but the ones that do pose a serious threat. Hydro Pump only does around 85% damage to standard 252 HP/224 SpD T-Tar leads, and Payback OHKOs me 100% of the time (coming off of 100 base power). Generally I'll switch to Metagross and try to beat him with Meteor Mash.

Heatran
-Psh. Not even a threat. Hydro Pump does massive damage and standard Heatran can't touch Starmie.

Gengar
-Life Orb Hydro Pump can OHKO lead Gengar 100% of the time.

Mamoswine
-Metagross is a solid switch-in here.

Smeargle
-Get an attack off with Starmie. Switch out, having Natural Cure get rid of Sleep, bring in Metagross, and clean up with Bullet Punch.

Roserade
-I can't OHKO with Ice Beam, so Heatran/Metagross are both good options here.

Machamp
-Payback is the only thing that hits me hard. However, Metagross can consistently beat Machamp with its Lum Berry and powerful offensive stats. Gyarados is an extremely potent switch, with the double threat of Intimidate and Bounce.

Summary: MetaMie is a potent lead combination that is capable of stopping many leads commonly found in the metagame. The only common poke capable of posing a real threat to me is Tyranitar, as my switch-ins aren't exactly safe, and Metagross won't appreciate an Earthquake to the face coming off of 369 Atk. Still, lead T-Tar isn't too common anymore.

Threat List [Offensive]
Breloom
-Metagross takes the Spore; Meteor Mash-->Bullet Punch as Lum Berry wakes me up. Rotom also ruins Breloom with a Trick, and Starmie takes Sleep pretty easily.

Celebi
-Starmie does serious damage with Ice Beam while not minding Paralysis. Rotom does serious damage with Shadow Ball. Oh, Heatran helps too.

Dugtrio
-Life Orb Dugtrio actually can't OHKO Metagross with Earthquake unless Stealth Rock is factored in, so just Meteor Mash+Bullet Punch for the KO. If Dugtrio comes in on Heatran, I Explode, but I'm unlikely to outspeed Dugtrio anyway.

Electivire
-Likely to come in to try and combat Gyarados; if I've already Danced, I outspeed it (if it hasn't had Motor Drive activate yet) and Earthquake away. I can also switch to Rotom (as Electivire generally cannot do much at all to a Rotom), burn it, then Shadow Ball away.

Empoleon
-Rotom and Breloom both destroy it. Starmie's Thunderbolt does decent damage too.

Flygon
-Gyarados is bulky enough to take most of Flygon's hits while Intimidating and hitting hard with Waterfall. Starmie can Ice Beam, but is outsped by Scarf variants.

Gengar
-See its section in [Lead].

Gliscor
-Gyarados can take it out. Starmie's Ice Beam works wonders.

Gyarados
-Rotom really shines here, outspeeding a Gyarados even after it Dragon Dances. However, if they're good with prediction and can land a Jolteon/Electivire switch of their own, I have problems. Starmie can take care of Gyarados before it Dragon Dances.

Heatran
-Gyarados completely walls off Heatran, can set up on it, and threaten to do massive damage with either EQ or Waterfall. Starmie can easily Hydro Pump it to death, as most Heatran carrying resistance berries go for the Shuca Berry.

Heracross
-Heatran used Fire Blast! It's super effective! Gyarados can Intimidate and set up. Rotom can Will-O-Wisp.

Infernape
-See [Lead]

Jirachi
-See [Lead]

Kingdra
-In a Rain Dance team, this guy is a pain. My best bet is Seed Bomb on Breloom, and it's defeated by Ice Beam. Starmie does decent damage with Ice Beam/Thunderbolt. I can Explode on it if it comes to that.

Lucario
-Heatran can Earth Power it. Agility is problematic, but Rotom's Will-O-Wisp helps here.

Machamp
-Rotom and Starmie both serve as decent counters, but neither will enjoy a Payback to the face. Metagross and Gyarados should both be able to beat Machamp 1 on 1.

Magnezone
-Heatran has Fire Blast and Earth Power; Metagross carries Earthquake with him, so that's not too worrying. Rotom absorbs Thunderbolts not directed at these Steel types.

Mamoswine
-See [Lead]

Metagross
-See [Lead]

Ninjask
-Bullet Punch defeats a very frail Pokemon. Metagross itself resists X-Scissor and Aerial Ace, Ninjask's primary offensive moves.

Porygon-Z
-Fragile. Breloom can take it out if it's lucky enough to set up Spore/Sub on it.

Rhyperior
-Gyarados. Done.

Roserade
-See [Lead]

Rotom (All Forms)
-
I can try to speed tie here with my own Rotom, if theirs is Scarfed. If it's not, I come in and Shadow Ball away. Other than that, my only real option is to come in with Metagross and Meteor Mash it to death.

Scizor
-Heatran can outspeed it and walls its set bar Superpower.

Snorlax
-Breloom utterly rapes it.

Starmie
-Scarf Rotom outspeeds and destroys with Thunderbolt.

Suicune
-Rotom and Starmie carry Thunderbolt. Still, if Suicune has managed to get a few CMs up, I'm in deep trouble. RestTalk Suicune has been really problematic for me in the past, as Breloom has a hard time getting through a barrage of Sleep Talks. Worst comes to worst, I Explode.

Togekiss
-Rotom, Rotom, Rotom. Starmie, Starmie, Starmie.

Tyranitar
-Gyarados is my most reliable switch-in.

Weavile
-Metagross tanks hits here like a champ. Bullet Punch leads to Weavile going down FAST.

Yanmega
-Heatran. Starmie. Rotom. Gyarados.

Zapdos
-Rotom does decent damage with Shadow Ball, but may have a hard time dealing with Heat Wave. Zapdos is a hard matchup for my team, as Starmie's Ice Beam can't counteract it all that well, considering my Electric weakness.

Summary: This team's biggest offensive problems are against Suicune and Zapdos. Calm Mind Suicune (especially the RestTalk set) has caused game losses for me twice in the past, and twice is two times too many. Zapdos is also a real problem for this team, because I have no real effective way of dealing with it.

Threat List [Defensive]
Blissey
-Breloom can Spore away here, usually resulting in a switch. Focus Punch will always OHKO, as a STAB 100 BP SE move coming off of 130 base Attack is frightening. Trick screws up Blissey badly.

Bronzong
-Trick does serious damage here. Fire Blast from Heatran will make most Bronzongs become incredibly sad.

Celebi
-Rotom does well with Shadow Ball, Starmie does likewise with Ice Beam. Bounce does quite a bit too. Heatran can do incredible damage with Fire Blast, but be extremely wary of opposing CeleTran combos.

Cradily
-I've never seen this guy on the offensive scene. Still, this gives Breloom a great opportunity to set up. Cradily's abysmal speed and lack of coverage against Breloom renders it child's play to get a Substitute, then a Spore down (important to be in that order, since most Cradily sets run Curse). Then I can sweep with Focus Punch.

Cresselia
-Cresselia is honestly the wall that I most hate. Skarmory and Blissey can both be taken out relatively easily by this team, but Cresselia, with her stellar Defense, Special Defense, and HP, can tank almost anything. Except a Trick coming from Choice Scarfed Rotom. Trick will completely screw up her walling abilities, whereupon I'm free to spam Shadow Ball as I wish.

Crobat
-Scarfed Rotom should be able to outspeed most Crobat and land a Thunderbolt on it. In addition, most Crobat have no SE moves whatsoever on Rotom, and my Rotom can't be hit with Super Fang.

Donphan
-My only entry hazard is Stealth Rock, which I can function without. Starmie does excellent damage with Hydro Pump, while Breloom can use Seed Bomb to clear this threat.

Drapion
-I don't run Toxic Spikes, so his Poison typing isn't worrying for me. Gyarados doesn't outspeed Drapion but can use Earthquake. The only troublesome move on Drapion's set is Whirlwind, and Gyarados will always go first if Drapion decides to phaze. Heatran does well with Earth Power but fears Earthquake.

Dusknoir
-Shadow Ball hurts Dusky a lot. Shadow Sneak isn't problematic considering that I run a Defensive Rotom.

Empoleon
-Rotom+Starmie have Thunderbolt, Breloom has Focus Punch.

Forretress
-Starmie is here to stop the most annoying Spiker in the game (apart from Deoxys-S). Hydro Pump does a respectable amount of damage. Rapid Spin is the MVP here.

Gliscor
-Say hello to Starmie, Ice Beam, higher Speed, and a double weakness.

Gyarados
-Again, Starmie and Rotom both have Thunderbolt for a reason. Only Rotom, however, outspeeds Gyarados after a Dragon Dance.

Hariyama
-Will-O-Wisp cripples this tank. Gyarados can Intimidate and Bounce, while Breloom can try to set up on a -1 or -2 Attack Hariyama.

Heatran
-Gyarados is an extremely reliable counter. Metagross outspeeds non-Scarfed variants while Starmie does serious harm with Hydro Pump.

Hippowdon
-Waterfall, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Seed Bomb. Breloom is generally my first choice.

Jirachi
-Heatran resists most of a standard Jirachi's moveset and OHKOs back with Fire Blast. In addition, Metagross's/Gyarados's Earthquake does loads of damage.

Ludicolo
-Mediocre stats all around (barring Rain) make Gyarados's Bounce or Rotom's Shadow Ball decent choices.

Machamp
-Handled the same way as Offensive Machamp; Will-O-Wisp, Intimidate, Bounce.

Magnezone
-Covered in Offensive threats.

Mesprit
-Rotom, Rotom, Rotom.

Metagross
-As a Metagross user, I know the problems that Heatran can cause for you. 'Nuff said.

Milotic
-Thunderbolt will have a hard time getting past 129 base Special Defense, and Breloom has difficulty setting up since Marvel Scale makes Spore not so scary. Still, Seed Bomb will wear down Milotic well enough, no matter how much Defense she has.

Miltank
-Breloom.

Porygon2
-Likely to come in on Gyarados or Heatran. However, Breloom can take Porygon2 out pretty easily, while Poison Heal does nothing against Sleep.

Regirock
-Starmie has Hydro Pump, bypassing Regirock's excellent 200 Defense to get to his not-so-good 100 Special defense.

Registeel
-Heatran has a 4x resist to Iron Head and handles Registeel nicely with Fire Blast.

Rhyperior
-Even with Solid Rock, Rhyperior will still not enjoy STAB Hydro Pump/Waterfall to the face.

Rotom
-Our own Rotom is a good option here. Scarf Rotom outspeeds bulky Rest Talk variants.

Shaymin
-Heatran resists Seed Flare and Air Slash, as does Metagross.

Shuckle
-Breloom sets up extremely easily here. Focus Punch does neutral damage but will still take down this Poke pretty quickly. Alternatively, I can Spore, swap to Gyarados, Dance once or twice, and then sweep.

Skarmory
-Two of my Pokemon carry Thunderbolt, so I'm not too worried.

Slowbro
-Slowbro won't enjoy taking a Trick, and after subsequently losing his ability to Slack Off reliably, falls fast to Thunderbolt.

Snorlax
-See his section in Offensive threats.

Spiritomb
-Usually I end up pounding on Spiritomb as hard as I can with Metagross or Heatran.

Starmie
-Frail and outsped by Scarfed Rotom.

Suicune
-See section in Offensive threats.

Swampert
-Breloom outspeeds and follows up with Spore-->Substitute-->Seed Bomb

Tentacruel
-His high Special Defense still doesn't stop Starmie and Rotom from pounding Thunderbolts at him.

Togekiss
-Thunderbolt. End of conversation. In addition, Rotom is considered one of Togekiss's biggest checks, since he resists Air Slash.

Umbreon
-Breloom's set-up is easy here. You'll want to Substitute first to protect from Taunt (since many Umbreon carry Lum Berry over Leftovers). Then get Sleep down and Focus Punch.

Vaporeon
-Vaporeon's mediocre Defense makes her prey to Seed Bomb. Watch out for her speed though. Thunderbolt isn't as effective, but works well if it needs to.

Walrein
-Walrein, most especially Stallrein, can potentially Hail Stall my entire team out, due to my lack of a phazer. Breloom is my best switch here, since he can outheal and out-stall Walrein if he has to.

Weezing
-Heatran is one of the absolute best counters here, sponging up Fire Blast and resisting Explosion (while being immune to Sludge Bomb).

Zapdos
-See his section in offensive threats.

Summary: This team's primary defensive threats are Stallrein (due to my lack of a phazer) and Milotic (due to Spore triggering Marvel Scale). Still, I'm not nearly as worried now about these defensive threats as I was before, since Starmie gives me an extremely useful Rapid Spinner to utilize.
 
Scarf heatran isn't doing much for your team besides revenging lucario which your team handles nicely without. I would suggest you change your heatran to a Lo heatran.

Heatran (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Flamethrower/FB
- Hidden Power [Electric]

this is a good stall breaker and a just excellent hole puncher. With these changes i can see this team being a beast with a lot of threats being covered.
 

Scimjara

Bert Stare
is a Tutor Alumnus
Hello Jebus McAzn,

Solid team, I have a few suggestions that may benefit your team. Just something to point out while on your lead threat list you say Metagross is a solid switch into Mamoswine not when their prior move against Starmie is Earthquake which ko's Metagross and considering the run Focus Sash being a lead you would be better of Hydro Pumping with Starmie and then switching to Metagross since Starmie would get hit by Endeavor or Earthquake and while the proceed to Ice Shard then you instantly switch over to Metagross, just something I wanted to clarify because your current method of dealing with these leads make absolutely no sense. DD Tyranitar with Lum Berry or even the Lum/Taunt set has it's edge against your team. Seeing that it easily sets up on Heatran once you are locked in any of it's attacks beside Explosion. This also sets up on Rotom-H and like I said Tyranitar's with Lum Berry and Taunt in it's move set take full advantage agains't these Rotom's even if you go for Will-O-Wisp. Agility Lucario also being the big threat for your team since it would usually come in late game and attempt to go for the sweep. It's main set up is against Heatran's HP Ice and Rotom's Shadow Ball once Lucario uses Agility it out speeds your whole team including both your Scarfers the main way to revenge kill Agility Luke is to have a decent priority on this team. Agili Luke can get away with these sweeps if Gyarados is ko'd and after continuous SR Damage you can consider Gyarados' time very limited.

With this said I would highly suggest you use an entirely different Breloom move set which incorporates Mach Punch. Hopefully you don't judge a book by it's cover for say and actually take a look at this and see how it benefits your team. By using this set not only would you get rid of your DD Tyranitar and Agility Lucario problem but your team would be equipped with a secure priority move. Lets say SubPetya Empoleon manages to set up two Agility' with is equivalent to +4 speed meaning that it would out speed your whole team while it's Sub is broken and has Torrent+Petya boost it would swiftly go for the clean sweep with Surf, due to fighting type priority you can prevent that. Even with the lack of Substitute you are still granted one turn sleep most of the time letting you get of one Focus Punch. Basically to sum it up yes the lack of Substitute hurts but Mach Punch helps prevent sweeps.

Breloom @ Toxic Orb | Poison Heal
Adamant | 44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Speed
Spore | Seed Bomb | Mach Punch | Focus Punch
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Good Luck! :toast:
 
Fried Rhys: I'll definitely test Flygon. Breloom can generally take out Tyranitar easily if he can get a Substitute or a Spore off, but if not, Tyranitar can potentially sweep my entire team. Still, how would Flygon counter a Kingdra that outspeeds everything in rain? Scarf Flygon maxes out at around 470 speed while Swift Swim Kingdra reaches well over 500 (not even taking into account Dragon Dance). I feel like I might drop Heatran, as Flygon is a great Fire resist on its own.

Scimjara: Substitute is a vital part of any SporePunch Breloom's moveset. I don't think I'll be dropping it any time soon. Normally when you run Mach Punch, it's on some kind of Swords Dance set.
 
Whoops. Apologies. I do suppose that Gyarados can wear down Rain Dance Kingdra pretty easily. I suppose that with the threat of RestTalk Kingdra also going around, Taunt would be a better option. I'll test out Flygon+BulkyGyara for a while and see how it goes.
 
I agree 100% with Scimjara that you need Mach Punch>Substitute. Not only will this help you keep up the offensive pace of the team, it gives you a reliable way to revenge things that trouble you. In my team I posted last month, I used the same set he suggested with great effect. At the very least, give it a try. If you find that it's not working, then keep using Substitute. Everything else looks pretty solid man, great job on the team. Hope you test out the set on Breloom. Thanks.
 
Hi there your team is well constructed so kudos to you. I don't have much tosay apart form I see room for a LO Nite in your team. it shreds stall and is great to have on an offensive based team.

Heatran is useful but seeing as you have checks for all the pokemon he'd check I doubt he is 'essential' on the team.

Dragonite@Life orb
-Extremespeed
-Fire Blast
-Roost
-Draco Meteror
Naive Nature
128Att/130Sp.att/252Speed

Hope this helps sorta. Good luck.
 
Honestly I prefer Heatran because of the insane power he packs from a Flash Fire boost. He takes hits directed at Breloom and Metagross, absorbs them, then fires off a Fire Blast or an Earth Power.
 
Honestly I prefer Heatran because of the insane power he packs from a Flash Fire boost. He takes hits directed at Breloom and Metagross, absorbs them, then fires off a Fire Blast or an Earth Power.
Yep I see that both of them can work so using any doesn't really matter, the other thing is that abusing his flash fire should be complimented with Shuca berry so that it is not 'game over' if you predict another heatran wrong;p Also you won't get OHKO'd by LO earth power shaymin which seems to be a big pain in the backside.
 
I don't know running gyarados witgh out electivire or jolteon seems a little risky well maybe it's becuase I new too this sorta thing and consist My teams of 600 BST pokes so I cant really comment
 

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