Intro
World War 2 theme I suppose, I just needed some sort of theme to make it stand out. Also I was at loss for good nicknames and I was watching the History Channel at the time, and Snorlax for the USA was too good to resist.
Apparently sun is pretty good, I know personally I have been screwed with it a few times, it is a bit hard to use, but heck I got the entire summer to perfect this thing. It’s a pretty standard drought team to be honest, after playing with it for the past week, and I believe I have reached the limit of its capacity that I alone can tweak it. So I turn to Smogon for some help, because it sort of has hit a wall. I am perfectly willing to change entire pokemon, although don’t go too crazy on me now, ok.
At Glance
Team Building
Team Building
Sawsbuck is just the best sweeper under the sun, quite literally. I actually at first tested out Venusaur in its place, no where in the same realm of greatness I have to tell you.
After reading the sun article, I decided that many of suns most common threats, fast psychics and ghosts, were easily dealt with by pursuit Snorlax. Also its great offensive-bulkiness was amazing for tearing through some slower threats.
Due to Snorlax being extremely weak to physical attackers, and any good drought teams need for a rapid spinner, I choose Hitmontop to do both. Hitmontop also had the ability to scare off tyranitars, and it was a litteral magnet for ghosts, and there was nothing more satisfying then trapping said ghosts with Snorlax. Snorlax and Hitmontop had great synergy together.
Drought teams ironically have a big problem, fellow fire attackers, so I needed a way to deal with them. I tested out Heatran a bit, it was meh, what really shined though was Arcanine, who took fire hits and cold deal with both Chandelure and Heatran, and brought to the table great priority to hit things up made it great to either finish off things or to just punch a few holes.
Latios was the final member the my initial team, I bit a bit of a problem dealing with dragons, and well this dealt with them just fine, also I needed a special attacker here plain and simple. Draco meteor was also great to punch holes in teams, and levitating got be out of a pickle a few times.
The team just was not working, I hit a rather embarrassing low wall. I think it was because I just wasn’t abusing sun enough. So I decided to make some changes after some playing with this team. Although I really did like how this team functioned, especially the hitmontop-snorlax synergy, if possible please give advice to fix that up. If not I will just have to wave my farewell to hitmontop.
After some really deep thought, this is how I changed my team, and my rating has been rising ever since, well until I hit the other wall.
First off was Arcanine, it was certainly better then Heatran, but it still just didn’t have the utility I needed to break through certain walls, and its speed just wasn‘t enough. Also I mainly got it to deal with heatran and Chandelure, both of which I realized snorlax could deal with, so it was just overkill. Infernape was the choice I made to break easily through those walls, and it had the speed I needed so kill off some threats too.
I felt like I wasn’t abusing sun enough, I was considering another sun abuser over Latios was quite some time, problem was, I would then lose terribly to dragons. But Infernape dealt with that problem well enough. Also, I was just being rapped by mach punches for Sawsbuck, and just fighting types in general, so I figured a poison type would deal with that nicely.
I needed something to deal with Thundurus, which was giving hell for my team with thunder wave priority and all, which basically killed my sun abuser off. I needed something just to take that thunderwave, on sun teams there are only choices are Rhyperoir, Mamoswine, and Donphan, and only one of those has the bulk I needed and can spin, ice shard also helped occasionally to take down some threats too. Also unlike hitmontop, Donphan can also set up stealth rocks, which is needed now that I am running Infernape, as it needed stealth rocks for many KOs. Still I just liked how Hitmontop worked… but it had to go.
China (Ninetales) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 240 HP / 12 Def / 88 SAtk / 168 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar
- Energy Ball
Any sun team worth its name needs this bugger. Because I need this thing to hang around, I used a bulky version of it. The evs give me enough speed to out speed Exadrill, with the sun gone of course, also they give me optimal bulk, on both sides, and a tad bit of special attack to hit hard. Flamethrower is a needed stab move, willow-wisp is a great move to screw whatever is coming in, usually Tyranitar, but I do have to watch out for flash fire pokemon. Roar is great to get things away, usually boosters since I use this to lead a lot. Energy ball is here mainly for quagsire which hilariously sometimes gives me problems, and then I just use it to take it out. Leftovers was needed to stay alive, I need it to take some weak hits and sandstorm damage, as well as stealth rocks occasionally.
Changes Considering:
-To be honest I kinda just started with the specially defensive spread, and screwed around with the evs, it seems to work fine enough, but any other ev suggestions are welcome.
-Fire blast might have the power I need to kill things, rather then flamethrower.
-Energy ball is iffy, but the only other thing that might be better is toxic, for a sort of double status thing. Hidden power fighting is also an option, but I rarely used it, if ever.
France (Sawsbuck) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Horn Leech
- Jump Kick
Sawsbuck is just an amazing sweeper under the sun, simply cleaning up everything in the end game. The evs give it the ability to out speed scarf Latios, under the sun, then the rest is dumped into HP for bulk, and then attack to of course sweep. Swords dance is a great boosting move, with it I can basically 1HKO every pokemon in the metagame with stealth rocks support, with the current move pool. Return with stab and swords dance gets ridiculously high power, it just kills everything, horn leach by itself is weak, but the health gained sometimes on water types and dieing pokemon is pretty snazzy and helps Sawsbuck stay in the game. Jump Kick was choosen over a natural power because it allows me the kill off Heatran and Tyranitar, as well giving me neutral power over many threats, which with natural power all I would do it take out Chandeldure, which I already deal with, with Snorlax. Life Orb gives me the extra power I need to kill off many threats, and its not too much of a problem with horn leach.
Changes Considering:
-I rarely, if ever, have seen a scarf-latios, and if I have it was probably killed by Snorlax. So I am considering just going to 152 HP / 4 SpDef / 100 Spd, which just allows me to outspeed scarf-Garchomp, give me some feedback on this one.
England (Venusaur) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 32 Def / 252 SAtk / 224 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Growth
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sludge Bomb
At first I was reluctant to use Venusuar, but I needed something to take down fighting types, and in generally I wasn’t abusing weather enough, also if Sawsbuck goes down I have another chance to sweep with this bad boy. Venusuar has the added benefit for not being effected much by a burn, so I can switch into Jellicent. The evs allow be to outspeed Scarf-Garchomp, under the sun. The rest of the 252 batch was put into defense, which maximizes its defensive bulk, for taking fighting hits. The rest goes into special attack to sweep. Growth is pretty snazzy for starting up a sweep, energy ball and sludge bomb are needed stab moves, and HP-fire is needed to smack down many steel types who think they resist the combo. Life orb is needed for many KOs to happen.
Changes Considering:
-Long ago I tested the mixed version, I honestly did not like it, but now that I re-added it to my team without Hitmontop, I have a bit of a problem with with Chansey and Blissey now. So I might consider it again.
-I have been contemplating Exeggutor, for the main reason that Venusaur half the time ends up dieing to life orb damage, and Exeggutor has the same attacking power of Venusaur with a life orb, allowing me to run some other item, like wise glasses or something that doesn’t kill me off. But there are many problems, it doesn’t have the speed to outspeed scarf-garchomp, it lacks growth, and its weak to dark types. The last one is the biggest problem, although if I could find a way to stick Hitmontop back on, I could probably use it.
USA (Snorlax) (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Return
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
Oh yeah, big fat USA comes to the rescue to save the day. I am surprised that this think ended up as UU, outside of Tyranitar, it’s the best pursuiter in the game, thanks to thick fat and a great special defense stat! Anyway snorlax deals with most, if not all scarfer threats, and as a side dish it also takes out whatever other ghost and psychic types. A few I can’t just choice band pursuit and go, Reunicles and Latias requite me to crunch, and Jellicent and Duskclops I can’t come in on at all, because of willow-wisp. Return is here as a punishing stab move, and earthquake I use occasionally to take down steel and rock types. The evs give me maximum attack to hit has hard as I can with choice band, the rest goes into special defense, so maximizes my special bulkiness I need to pursuit in the first place.
Changes Considering:
-Fire punch possibly over earthquake, as I have lost a few matches because skarmory or ferrothorn walled me out, but I think I might lose some needed KOs on a few pokemon, and heatran would completely wall it then.
-Perhaps life orb over choice band, as being stuck into a move can sometimes be annoying, but the recoil might be even more annoying and I might lose out on many KOs.
USSR (Infernape) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 20 SAtk / 236 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Mach Punch
Infernape a great wall breaker, its just freaking amazing, a few times I have swept whole teams with just it, at the very least it allows me to punch major holes in teams, which I can then exploit with my chlorophyll sweepers. Also I can use it to take bullet punches from scizor, which this basically walls, and if I need to it can also take a few fire hits. With the right prediction it can also tear through many common standstorm teams with ease. Overheat is am amazingly powerful move under the sun, it even does decent damage to water types, close combat is a needed stab move, and Infernape being already frail doesn’t care much about the defense loss. Hidden power ice is the star of this set, as it allows me to rip through its common counters, like Gliscor and Dragonite, and Salamence, and after a few stealth rock hits Garchomp also comes down. Mach punch is good priority, it allows me to take down some weakened speedy threats. The evs allow me to outspeed Mienshao and Zoroak, as I don’t care much for just speed tieing Terakion and Virizion, which I lose to anyway because of hidden power ice, it gives me a few extra special attack evs for overheat and hidden power ice. Naive over hasty because occasionally I need it to take bullet punches. Life orb is needed for there extra power I need to kill off any things.
Changes Considering:
-I rarely if ever see Zoroak and Meinshao, I was thinking about dropping down to 252 Atk / 44 SAtk / 212 Spd just for Garchomp
-Mach punch is meh, I have been considering thunder punch for those bulky waters, or u-turn to scout.
Poland (Donphan) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
Once I added Infernape, I realized I needed something to spin and set up stealth rocks, Donphan was the best choice as it could do that, take hits, hit hard, and take a thunder wave. The evs maximize defensive bulkiness, because you know, it’s a physical wall. Because of that Donphan has a great niche in this team, taking physical hits is possibly the best thing about it, as the only other wall on my team is weak to physical attacks. Earthquake is good to hit hard on many threats that underestimated base 120 attack. Ice shard is decent priority to take things down if I need to, it also does decent damage to Gliscor which thinks it can counter it. Leftovers of course helps me stay in the game longer.
Changes Considering:
-Ice shard is ok, but I have a few other options I have been thinking about: stone edge hits Thundurus much harder, toxic could be useful against Chansey and Blissey, and rest might be better to get rid of status and regain health.
Threats
Not all of these are the biggest threats, but many do cause problems. Bolded threats, are the ones that really screw me over.
Code:
Offensive Threats
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/7/7e/Ani286MS.png[/IMG] Breloom -Becuase my core is snorlax - Donphan there is some problems. After something takes the spore, Ninetails and the sun sweepers can come in.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/534.png[/IMG] [B]Conkeldurr[/B] - Venusaur... that it
[IMG]http://pldh.net/media/pokecons/555.png[/IMG]Darmanitan - fodder something, then kill it, stealth rocks + recoil and its gone soon
[IMG]http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/sprites/dpicon/dpicon149.png[/IMG] [B]Dragonite[/B] - If it set up, hopefully I can still kill it with Sawsbuck, Donphan can finish it if its down.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/530.png[/IMG] Excadrill -Donphan if I need to, Infernape with mach punch can finish it off, or if I must, fodder something, then send in ninetails
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/d/d1/Ani130MS.png[/IMG] [B]Gyarados[/B] - Again causes problems for my core, usually I need my chloro sweepers out to finish it after rocks damage.
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/0/03/Ani485MS.png[/IMG] Heatran - Snorlax, but I can check it with Sawsbuck and Infernape.
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/7/74/Ani392MS.png[/IMG]Infernape -If not mixed, Donphan, if it is, I must rely on a chloro sweeper.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/645.png[/IMG] Landorus - Donphan.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/549.png[/IMG] [B]Lilligant[/B] - Ahh! This thing completely screws my team, snorlax is the only one who stands a chance.
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/b/b0/Ani448MS.png[/IMG] Lucario - Occasionally mixed versions cause problems.
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/6/67/Ani473MS.png[/IMG] Mamoswine - Destroys my core, and my chloro sweepers, I have to rely on Infernape or Ninetails.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/586.png[/IMG] Sawsbuck -Ninetails might take a return, mach punch and ice shard can work.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/561.png[/IMG] Sigilyph -Fuck this thing, Vensuaur sometimes.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/639.png[/IMG] [B]Terakion[/B] -Donphan, mach punch Infernape.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/641.png[/IMG] Tornadus - Hopefully they don't have hammer arm... snorlax. Ice shard on Donphan.
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/d/df/003MS.png[/IMG]Venusaur -Sawsbuck says hi. As does snorlax.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/494.png[/IMG] Victini -Donphan, chloro sweepers.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/640.png[/IMG] Virizion -Venusaur.
Code:
Defensive Threats
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/b/b5/Ani242MS.png[/IMG] Blissey -Find out when it softoboils, send in Infernape, Sawsbuck kills it on a sweep.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/113.png[/IMG]Chansey -same
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/563.png[/IMG] Cofagrigus -Venusaur.
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/8/84/Ani356MS.png[/IMG]Dusclops - Venusaur.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/598.png[/IMG] Ferrothorn -Everything except snorlax and Donphan.
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/8/81/Ani205MS.png[/IMG] Forretress -Damage it, send infernape or Venusaur.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/569.png[/IMG] Garbodor - taking out the trash
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/3/3f/Ani472MS.png[/IMG] Gliscor -Infernape or Venusaur.
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/1/17/Ani450MS.png[/IMG] Hippowdon -Venusaur, usually.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/593.png[/IMG] Jellicent -Venusaur.
[IMG]http://veekun.com/dex/media/icons/630.png[/IMG] Mandibuzz -Snorlax... maybe?
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/e/e9/186MS.png[/IMG]Politoed - Venusaur or Sawsbuck.
[IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/icons/233.gif[/IMG]Porygon2 -Infernape or Sawsbuck.
[IMG]http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/1/12/Ani143MS.png[/IMG] Snorlax -Eating competition face off!
[IMG]http://www.pokemonelite2000.com/sprites/dpicon/dpicon073.png[/IMG] [B]Tentacruel[/B] -Snorlax... but not before toxic spikes fuck my team.
