Gen 5! Thats Crazy!

[noproblem23]

I have been a part of the smogon community for a while now. I don't post much and I have never been fantastic at battling. However, after Black and White were released I thought I could try to get a bit better at it. I created a team and have been playing with it for a while now. I know it still has a lot of problems though as I only seem to be winning every other match or so. I am posting the team here so the community can improve it and hopefully better my team. Thanks in advance!


The Team

Forretress@Leftovers
Sturdy Relaxed
252hp/176def/80spd
~Stealth rock
~Spikes
~Rapid Spin
~Earthquake


Forretress is quite useful on this team because of stealth rock and spikes support. Rapid spin support isn't necessary, but is handy. I feel as though there might be a better stealth rocker out there though. I rarely have enough time for spikes, so that is not completely necessary. Forretress is also the closest thing i have to lead although i will change who i lead with based on what i see in the opponents lead position. Earthquake is useful for hitting some steels, but i have been finding it a bit lackluster lately and it usually doesn't to anything except for the odd KO on an unsuspecting Jolteon. Forretress is good at walling, however he seems to just be set up bait sometimes. Overall, I like Forretress, but I wonder if there is a better alternative or a different moveset.

Cloyster@WhiteHerb
Skill Link Adamant
4hp/252atk/252spe
~Shell Smash
~Icicle Spear
~Rock Blast
~Razor Shell


Cloyster is an absolute monster. My main reason for making this team was to try and see how well shell smash Cloyster worked. My question was answered: very well. I sometimes have difficulty getting it in and then using that one vital shell smash, but once I do almost nothing can stand in the way of him. The moves are there to abuse skill link and stab. I run adamant instead of jolly because he can survive a hit from pretty much anything that outspeeds him and then KO whatever it is with the added power from adamant.

Gyarados@Leftovers
Intimidate Impish
248hp/252def/8spd
~Rest
~Sleep Talk
~Waterfall
~DragonTail

I had used DDgyara in gen4 and I found it to be a bad Salamence (before the banning of Salamence) So, this gen i thought i would try out a bulky Gyarados. I found that i love it. This is probably my favorite set on the team. Rest is there as a recovery move and to make him pretty much immune to status, while sleep talk helps to make him not utterly useless while he is asleep. Waterfall is for power and stab while dragon tail is there for phazing.

Gengar@LifeOrb
Levitate Timid
4def/252spa/252spe
~Substitute
~Pain Split
~Shadow Ball
~Focus Blast

I find this Gengar set very situational. Sometimes, i am able to bring it in and set up a substitute. Then, he sweeps. However, other matches he just seems like dead weight. Substitute is there for something to hide behind, while pain split helps gain the health back. Shadow ball and focus blast are there for coverage. I would gladly accept an alternative to this pokemon or even a different set. Something that could add more chemistry to the rest of the team, or maybe a different set.

Garchomp@ChoiceScarf
Sand Veil Jolly
4hp/252atk/252spe
~Outrage
~Earthquake
~Dragon Claw
~Fire Blast

Garchomp is an excellent revenge killer this generation, and is necessary for killing dragons that I might have problems with. Outrage is a powerful move that helps to kill things that have a lot of health still on them. Dragon claw helps to kill dragons when i don't want to be locked into outrage. Fireblast is for steels earthquake is for added stab. Garchomp is mainly used for killing dragons, but i am definitely open to changing around the position of dragon killer, so if there is a better option out there i would love to hear it.

Conkeldurr@leftovers
Guts Adamant
120hp/252atk/136spd
~Bulk Up
~Drain Punch
~Mach Punch
~Stone Edge

Conkeldurr is an excellent pokemon. I switch it into anything that can't really harm it and proceed to bulk up. Mach punch is for revenge killing and is pretty damaging on its own, after a bulk up it gets even stronger. Drain punch helps to gain back health that Conkeldurr loses and I use it when I want to damage something more than mach punch. Originally, I had stone edge there to help wit Skarmory, but i have found that it does laughable damage to Skarm, and if there is an alternative to it I would love to hear it.

Overall, I know it isn't a great team , but it is my first gen5 team and I would like some help fine-tuning it. I am very open to testing new changes and would love to hear some opinions.

 

[wacky tabaky]

Solid team but cloyster is screaming kings rock as rock blast and icicle spear have a 45% chance of inflicting flinch which is game over for the opponent.

 

[MegaChrisHimself]

i 100% agree with wacky tabaky, kings rock all the way
cloyster was a toss up between life orb and king's rock for me but i settled on kings rock in the end, i use this set;

Cloyster (M) @ King's Rock
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Explosion
- Spikes

this is my personal preference, i know you have forretress to set up spikes and so on, but i think you could really do with replacing it with a nice speedy roserade set for your lead;

Roserade @ Leftovers
Natural cure
Timid nature
EVs: 4HP / 252 SpA / 252 Speed
- Toxic Spikes
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm / Grass knot
- Hidden Power (ice)

This is a real nice set to use (and it pisses me off to no end) its pretty obvious on how to use, fire off a sleep powder, set up toxic spikes and then use either the STAB grass move or the ice, whichever is effective! the choice between leaf storm and grass knot is a bitch, grass knot is good if you're worried about the heavier pokemon, like tyranitar and the like, but then leaf storm has more base power...pretty much up to you! i'd test both (:

 

[mukery]

If rapid spin is not necessary, you dont have to save forretress too much for later in the game. I suggest you put a custap berry on it instead of leftovers, as it´ll give you an oppurtunity to set up more spikes if sturdy activates, or if you´re just at low health :D

 

[Myrrh]

This is actually one of the most solid teams i've seen so far, so good job!

Forretress with Earthquake as your only offensive move is a bit worrying, since its easy set-up bait for pokemon such as NP thundurus, NP tornadus, DD Salamence, DD Gyarados etc. Additionally, as a lead, it gets messed up by taunt, and now that every pokemon is running a fire move for ferrothorn, it becomes really dangerous due to Mixtar leads, scarf genesect leads, etc. With Forretress, it has really lost a lot of its potential from the generation transition, so i suggest a more conventional lead such as Tyranitar instead.

Subsplit gengar is actually a good pokemon, unfortunately you don't give it the proper environment to function effectively, ie you don't have any pokemon that are weak to fighting or ground, so that you can lure a free switch-in for gengar, this unfortunately restricts his use and doesn't allow you to abuse his full potential. Currently, you seem to have a big problem with stall, as you don't essentially have any wall-breakers or 'stallbreakers' in your team.

What I can suggest, is changing Gengar to a bulky stall breaker Jellicent, so that your team has a proper glue for pivoting to your sweepers. This is my custom set and I find it works really well.

Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252HP/176Def/84Spe
Nature: Bold
Moveset
1. Surf
2. Will-o-wisp
3. Taunt
4. Recover

The speed EVs allow you to taunt skarmory and chansey/blissey, burn them then recover/ surf stall your way through them, taunting everytime the taunt cd is over. This will allow you to handle stall much better.

Otherwise, this team looks quite good, Garchomp and Gyarados have great synergy and all your movesets and EVs look very good, so well done.

 

[frogoholic101]

Solid team but cloyster is screaming kings rock as rock blast and icicle spear have a 45% chance of inflicting flinch which is game over for the opponent.

...and then it takes a hit and dies.
White herb is best for the set you're running, so keep it that way.
I don't know why some above poster is recommending a freaking TYRANITAR when alll but one of your team takes SS damage. Keep Forry, but I would say consider Toxic Spikes over Stealth Rock; it really helps Conklederp sweeps.
Other than that, well done! Good team.

EDIT: Wait. STALL BREAKER JELLICENT!!!??? What on earth are you on about? Jellicent exacerbates his weakness to stall, if anything.
Tip: Don't smoke pot before giving team rates.

 

[noproblem23]

@wacky tabaky - I considered kings rock when I made the team, but I agree with frogoholic101 in this case. I like the consistency of being able to survive mach punch and scarfchomp more than the occasional flinch hax that I would be able to 2hko anyway.

@MegaChrisHimself - Same as above for kings rock. I'm not sure if Roserade would fit the makeup of this team. I like stealth rock because the instant damage helps Cloyster sweep, I usually dont play against opponents long enough for poison to really do a lot of damage.

@Mukery - I dont know if Custap berry would be that useful on Forretress. I kind of like being able to use forretress as a switch in for one turn to scout moves when i dont know what else to do and leftovers helps to soften the repeated blows.

@Myrrh - you listed all those leads as things that counter Forretress, and its true that those counter Forretress. However, if I see that the opponent is leading with one of those I will switch to the appropriate counter before the game begins. Also, I don't really see how Jellicent solves any problems. However I did say I would try out anything for this spot, so I will test it out.

@frogoholic101 - I agree with pretty much everything you said. I will try out toxic spikes over stealth rock and see if I like it.

 

[Dan-lo]

isnt rapid spin a banned item

 

[Fr05tE]

a great alt to Stone Edge for conkeldurr is payback to get those pesky ghost type :P

it works well, i got that on my team

 

[noproblem23]

@Dan-lo - what? Rapid Spin is a move.
@Fr05tE - Wow I totally missed that he had that. I will test that for sure.

 

[Shunks]

This team is nearly perfect. It seems to be able to counter many threats out there, except for a rarely seen, nearly over powered Pokemon. The team fails to address the threat of Sweeper Kakuna.

Kakuna can switch into anything on your team and proceed to set up with iron defense. After maxing its defenses, it will sweep away using STAB Poison Sting and Bug Bite.

However, if you manage to switch in your Gyarados and phaze it you might stand a chance.

Hope that helps.