Introduction //
It's been quite some time since I last posted a team on here, but I've just been having so much fun with this one that I wanted to share it with all you wonderful folks. I actually want to start working on a good rating, and I love this team so hopefully you'll all give me some good tips on fixing any flaws. That and it's 3 am, and apparently this is better than sleep. =P This is a Dream World team, and I mainly play on the PO server because I really dislike team reveal, as it kind of ruins the team. I dunno, you'll see for yourselves, just keep that in mind when offering advice. All the team members are named after characters from the anime Hellsing. I just finished re-watching it all the way through the other week, so it gave me a theme to go with. =P Anyway, that's enough of the introduction, nobody reads this shit anyway. On to the team! =D
Team Building Process //
Ok, so basically I wanted a team where Venomoth Baton Passes a Quiver Dance Boost or two to Nidoking, who then proceeds to shit all over the opponent's team. So the first two team members were easy to pick out; BP Venomoth and Sheer Force Nidoking.
Cool, so I had a win condition. They would need support to make it happen. I wanted stuff that can take hits, cripple threats, set up hazards, and to cover each other's weaknesses. The first one to come to mind was Ferrothorn. He can cripple, he can lay hazards, and he can take the Water and Psychic attacks aimed at Nidoking.
Alright, now there was a pretty clear weakness to Fire developing, so I had to take care of that. Let's see... Fire-resist, takes hits, cripples the opponent's team... ah hell, let's have it spiin-block too! The next member is a utility Jellicent.
I still had two Pokémon that were weak to Psychic, and no resists, however. I figured a Dark type would be a good move in this slot, since Jellicent and Ferrothorn could switch into Fighting and Bug attacks, respectively. After awhile, I decided on a specially defensive Tyranitar, since having a weather changer in this metagame is always nice, half my team was immune to Sandstorm at this point anyway.
At this point, I felt that the team was really starting to come together nicely. I was still lacking a good, solid lead to tie it all together though. Finally I thought of a lead that I'd wanted to try out for awhile, and oh boy do I like it. The final member of the team is Mienshao.
- The Hellsing Organization -
Mienshao (Walter) @
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Naïve
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SpA/252 Spe
Description: Mienshao is a lead that I've absolutely fallen in love with since I've started using this team. I almost always begin the match with momentum in my favour due to Miensho's high base 105 speed, a +3 priority move, and U-turn. Fake Out is the perfect move on a lead, as it breaks all sorts of annoying things like Focus Sash, Sturdy, and Multiscale. Also, combined with Mienshao's high attack, it leaves a pretty nice dent in most things too. Hi Jump Kick is the basic STAB move of choice, with 130 BP and 90% accuracy, it puts the hurt on so many things. The recoil from missing is bad (and I tend to miss far more often than 90% suggests for some reason) but at least his ability helps with that a little. U-turn is the next move, which is awesome for scouting, since Mienshao is usually fast enough to pull it off before the opponent moves, so I can bring in something that would much better take the attack I predict to be aimed at Mienshao. Finally, Hidden Power Ice needs to be the last move. The number of people that switch Gliscor into the Fake Out in order to activate the Toxic Orb is obscene. Fake Out + HP Ice has KO'd every Gliscor that has switched into it that I've faced so far. I went with a Naïve nature because I wanted to boost speed without lowering either of the attacking stats, and then for EVs I just maxed attack and speed, and put the rest in special attack for Hidden Power. Life Orb is the item to give Mienshao's attacks a nice boost, and it combos nicely with its Regenerator ability, and U-turn.
Possible changes: Stone Edge is an option, but like... no. HP Ice is so much better. Unless there's a whole better lead for this team altogether, I think the set is flawless.
Tyranitar (Integra) @
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 SpD
Description: Tyranitar is one of my walls. She can eat up special attacks like nobody's business with this spread and Sand Stream to further boost her special defense. Pursuit is the key move here, as it allows me to put so many different threats into a checkmate position. Winning Pursuit mindgames is like getting a raise at work. You just feel good about yourself all day. Next up is Crunch, for a much stronger STAB Dark attack. Third I have Stone Edge for a Rock type STAB, but I hate this move so much. It always misses. It may as well read 'Stone Edge: Juice skips his turn'. I've been thinking about cutting it, but getting hits on stuff like Zapdos, the genies, Ninetales, etc is too good to pass up, I guess. And finally in the last slot I have Stealth Rock. It needed to go somewhere, and Tyranitar is generally bulky enough to get the rocks up without much of an issue. I chose a Careful nature to boost special defense, along with 252 EVs in that department. 252 in HP increase bulk even more, with the rest in attack. Leftovers for the item again helps its tanking ability.
Possible changes: I know that most Tyranitars are geared more towards attacking, but I really like BulkyTTar. If you can convince my why a more offensive one is better, go for it. Also, I'm considering Earthquake or Superpower in place of Stone Miss. Yes/no?
Ferrothorn (Pickman) @
Ability: Iron Barbs
Nature: Careful (+SpD, -SpA)
EVs: 252 HP/124 Def/132 SpD
Description: Ferrothorn is my second wall/hazard layer/general annoyance. It's designed to be a mixed wall, and take hits well from both ends of the spectrum, assuming of course that they're not Fire or Fighting typed. Leech Seed is the first move on the set, and usually the first move I'll do. Even if my opponent switches, nothing likes switching into Leech Seed, and it's the only recovery Ferrothorn has. Next up is Spikes, which combined with Tyranitar's Stealth Rock, can make it very annoying for my opponent if that want to switch out of Leech Seed. Thunder Wave is third up, paralyzing speedy Scarfers and Swift Swimmers (Drizzle + Swift Swim isn't banned on the PO server). Lastly, Power Whip rounds out the set giving Ferrothorn at least one offensive move so that Taunt doesn't completely ruin it, as well as dealing nice damage to stuff like Politoed and Quagsire. I maxed the HP EVs, and split the rest between defense and special defense with a Careful nature to give me 329 and 331 in def and sp def respectively. I went with Rocky Helmet for the item since Chandelure is banned on PO, so I don't have to worry about Shadow Tag. If it were unbanned, I'd obviously switch for the Shed Shell. Rocky Helmet is really nice though, as combined with Iron Barbs, anything that hits Ferrothorn with a contact move loses 25% of its health. I love switching this guy into Outrage and watching my opponent kill himself/herself.
Possible changes: I was thinking of throwing Protect in there somewhere, I guess over Spikes or Thunder Wave, but I'm not sure. If anyone can offer input on that, I'd appreciate it. Also, I considered Leftovers instead of Rocky Helmet, but I dunno, the Helmet has actually won me some games, and it's a nice parting gift to my opponent if I'm forced to fodder Ferrothorn for some reason.
Jellicent (Farguson) @
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
EVs: 248 HP/216 Def/44 Spe
Description: Jellicent is the third member of the support trio on this team. He has excellent synergy with Ferrothorn and Tyranitar, as he loves switching into Fighting attacks, especially Hi Jump Kick. Scald is the obligatory STAB move, with decent base power backed by a 30% chance to burn the opponent. Next I have Taunt which can really help against things like Ferrothorn that try to set up Spikes, or annoying Baton Pass chains. It also basically forces Chansey/Blissey to switch as Taunt usually shuts down three of its four moves, with the fourth being Seismic Toss. Third up is Recover, which is great for restoring Jellicent's health, should it get low. Finally I have Toxic in the last slot. Not only does Taunt + Toxic + Recover allow me to stall out things if I need to, it also helps me deal with opposing bulky waters like Suicune, Politoed, and other Jellicent.
Possible changes: I used to have Will-O-Wsip instead of Toxic and Surf over Scald, but I found WoW misses just way too often, and doesn't cripple other bulky waters the way Toxic does. I guess then the only possible change I could make is maybe putting Shadow Ball on the set somewhere, but I don't think it's worth cutting Taunt or a status move. Opinions?
Venomoth (Victoria) @
Ability: Wonder Skin
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP/4 SpA/252 Spe
Description: Now we reach Venomoth, the first half of my win condition. She catches a lot of people off guard, because really, nobody uses Venomoth in OU. First up is Sleep Powder, which will hopefully put one of my opponent's Pokémon out of commission for awhile. I usually lead with that move. Next is Quiver Dance, which is one of the best boosting moves in the game, giving +1 to special attack, special defense, and speed. Depending on the situation, usually a single boost is sufficient, but sometimes I'll go for two if I feel that being greedy won't cost me the match. Baton Pass is the reason Venomoth is on the team, being the only Pokémon able to Baton Pass Quiver Dance boosts besides Smeargle. One boost passed to Nidoking is game over more than 75% of the time, two boosts more than 95%, and I've never lost if I've passed three. The last mvoe on the set is Bug Buzz, just so Venomoth can actually hurt stuff. If Nidoking goes down to some unforseen incident, Venomoth can attempt a mini-sweep with Quiver Dance + Bug Buzz as a last ditch resort. I chose the ability Wonder Skin instead of the standard Tinted Lens because I feel that 50% chance of a status move failing is FAR better than Bug Buzz hitting stuff that resists it harder. I've lost count of the number of times that Wonder Skin has saved me from a painful Thunder Wave or Sleep Powder. As for the spread, Timid nature with 252 EVs in speed ensures that she's fast as possible, while 252 EVs in HP are for bulk, since Venomoth isn't exactly built for taking hits. The rest are dumped in special attack just in case. Leftovers is the pretty obvious item choice, as it negates weather damage.
Possible changes: The only thing I can think of is change the ability to Tinted Lens and use Lum Berry as an item, but I think I like Wonder Skin + Leftovers a lot better.
Nidoking (Alucard) @
Ability: Sheer Force
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Description: Here he is folks, the fawkin' boss. Nidoking with the Sheer Force ability is an absolute terror, receiving a 30% power boost to all moves that have a secondary effect, at the expense of that effect never happening. That's fine by me, because this guy's all about power. Once he gets passed a Quiver Dance or two, his ability, coupled with his vast movepool allows him to simply steamroll the rest of my opponent's team. Earth Power is the STAB move, and is my go-to move if nothing else is super effective. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam provide the infamous BoltBeam combo, as well as descimating all the Flying types that are immune to Earth Power. Rounding out the set is Flamethrower, which roasts annoyances such as Ferrothorn, whom would otherwise prove annoying. I went with a Timid nature and 252 EVs in speed to be as fast as possible, with 252 EVs in special attack to hit hard. The rest are in HP for a little extra bulk. Life Orb is the perfect item as Sheer Force negates Life Orb recoil on any attack it boosts, which happen to be all of Nidoking's.
Possible changes: No. There's nothing to change. Some people have suggested Fire Blast/Thunder. Those attacks can miss. The current ones can't. End of story.
Conclusion //
Well, there it is. My favourite, and probably the most fun team I've ever made. It has some problems, mainly in the form of priority attacks. I'm thinking of trying to fit screens in there, but I'm not sure that it's worth it. But it's now almost 5 am, so I'm turning this over you folks. Let's see what you can come up with to improve this team. Thanks in advance for what I'm sure will be wonderful suggestions. Cheers!
