Opening
Current Team At A Glance
Replaced Poke's
Replacements
Landorus replaced Mamoswine
Heracross replaced Virizion
Gliscor replaced Heracross
Dragonite replaced Landorus
After a few months of playing casually i've gotten tired of losing to real competitive players by using mediocre teams put together over minutes of throwing together random pokemon. This time I decided to put together a proper team and up to now it has worked brilliantly, not only am I almost consistantly winning games in random battles under the smogon server, and also winning more often against other serious competitive players. This team still has its flaws and im hoping this RMT can fix it up.
( NOTE: This RMT was originally on Serebii, but due to lack of help and responses, i've brought it here in hope of more help )
( NOTE: This RMT was originally on Serebii, but due to lack of help and responses, i've brought it here in hope of more help )
Team Building Process
Step 1
I decided to go with a more commonly used team building method of building a team around a particular pokemon, so I decided why not begin with a favorite? As a result we begin with Magnezone.
Magnezone is brilliant for trapping steel walls like the commonly used Ferrothorn and Skarmory, being weak to a STAB Charge Beam. This may give them time to set up, but none of my team is significantly weak to entry hazards, this is also why I did not place a spinner in my team. If he is used efficiently, and you get lucky with the Charge Beam boosts, Magnezone can become a devistating Sub-Sweeper, his only let down being his speed, this means almost all fire and fighting types can revenge kill him.
Step 2
Next, I needed someone to cover Magnezone, particularly his common counters. I listed some of these, such as Heatran, Gliscor, Volcarona, Excadrill, Chandelure special walls such as Blissy, and so on... to cover the vast majority of his counters, I decided to place Scrafty in the team.
Scrafty can cover most of Magnezones biggest weaknesses thanks to his brilliant typing, and movepool. He has STAB Drain Punch to take care of steels that Magnezone cannot handle ( Such as Heatran and Excadrill ), and he takes care of special walls. Scrafty's STAB Crunch also allows him to take out Chandelure with ease, considering he is probrably the most powerfull non-uber fire type special attacker in the game. Lastly Scrafty has been equipped with Ice Punch, this lets him take out dragons, that Magnezone may not be weak to ( Unless there running Flamethrower or HP Fire ) but either way, Magnezone cannot deal any worthwhile damage to them, letting them set up with DD, this was too dangerous to allow.
Step 3
Scrafty did not by any means cover all of Magnezones weaknesses, while at the same time, he added more counters to the list, so I needed a way around this. Scrafty may have covered some fire and fighting types, but not all, my weakness to fighting had now doubled, and some fires like Volcarona were still a big threat. I decided the easiest to cover this with minimal pokemon was to add Chandelure to the team.
By using Chandelure I gave my team an immunity to both fire and fighting, that I desperately needed, since Chandelure was to be used after an opponent switched in a fire/fighting that could not be countered by Scrafty, I decided he would become a scarfed revenge killer. This allowed room for manouverability, having 4 attacks helped me cover the rest of my teams weaknesses later on in the team building process, by adding Psychic and Energy Ball to the mix of the STAB combo of Fire Blast and Shadow Ball.
Step 4
At this point I realised that to work a successful revenge killer, entry hazards are required to both break sashes, and to discourage my opponent switching. Since Volcarona was still a slight threat, along with the other fires that threaten Magnezone, Stealth Rocks were the way to go. I spent some time of thinking of a Stealth Rock lead that would fit in with the team, and eventually I decided upon Mamoswine.
Mamoswine does much more for this team than you would think, first of all, he sets up rocks of course. Next Mamoswine provides an immunity to electric, this is useful for taking an incoming T-Wave from perhams a Haxrachi, and damn it do I despise them... Mamoswines STAB priority Ice Shard is also extremely useful to 1HKO Dragonite, Salamence and Flygon, while 2HKO'ing other dragons that do not have secondary typing that resists ice. He also allows extra coverage on my team, as he provides STAB EQ and Stone Edge, these are the only Ground/Rock type moves in my team, and can make or break any game if he is preserved properly.
Step 5
Unfortunately, Mamoswine gives my team a double weakness to Fire and Water, alongside a triple weakness to Fighting, this brought numerous other threats to my team, such as Scrafty, Terrakion, Conkeldurr, Swampert, and other Water/Fighting types that have not been sufficiently covered yet. This is where I ( at first begrudgingly ) added Virizion to my team, although after my final member was added, I felt secure and confident that all of the teams major weaknesses had been covered.
Virizion brought STAB grass into the team, something that was required as none of my team is able to proporly counter a Swampert ( or Quagsire and Rotom-W for that matter ) so STAB Giga Drain ( Perhaps even Calm Mind boosted ) was perfect for the job. Unfortunately his presence has caused my team to have a triple weakness to the current metagames most successfull and common offencive type, fighting, and also fire. Due to this I have been considering removing him, or equipping him with HP Psychic rather than Ice, since I do not have any weakness to dragon, and yet have 3 Ice type attacks, one of these being STAB Priority.
Step 6
Due to the unfortunate 3 Fire/Fighting weakness, no Flying/Levitating poke' to cover ground, and no real water counter besides Charge Beam and Giga Drain, I decided to go with a personal favorite... Rotom-W.
Rotom-W allows me to counter the last of my teams uncovered threats, not only does he have levitate, giving me an immunity to ground that my team has no immunities to... granted only one weakness but still its nice to have. Rotom-W not only walls ground attacks but can also counter them with Hydro Pump. Rotom-W also counters my teams x3 weakness to fire, can switch in on STAB water moves aimed at Mamoswine and Chandelure, and then counter them with T-Bolt/Charge Beam. Rotom-W can also spread status (Burn) to opponents like Scizor. Oh and yeah... he only has a grass weakness... meaning its only common counter is Virizion, allowing Chandelure to do his job.
Step 7
After a while, I realised that Mamoswine was practically useless as a set-up lead, and any time I set up with him, he got KO'ed soon after, making his offencive capabilities redundant. Because of this I used him as an offensive lead, although I was suggested to change him for someone more usefull. I was suggested scarf Landorus.
Choice Scarf Landorus worked like a charm, he improved my teams resistances, worked as a much more effective offensive lead than Mamoswine, and also had greater coverage. The best part of Landorus was that since sand teams had became so common, if my opponent lead with a TTar, I could sweep the majority of their team thanks to Sand Force.
Step 8
After a while, it seemed like Virizion never got a chance to play an important role in any of my battles, and so I felt he was a weak link in the team offensively. Due to this, I decided to replace him with someone who could provide the same defensive capabilities as him, yet less frail, and stronger offensive capabilities. I settled with Heracross for this role.
Heracross brought greater offensive capabilities to the team, helping in major parts of numerous battles, whilst still being able to maintain... or in this case, increase my teams overall defensive coverage. The best part of Hera was that he could absorb status like a god when given Sleep Talk + Guts + Choice.
Step 9
My team, despite Landorus, still seemed to have trouble with the ever common sand team, particularly Excadrill, whom only Rotom-W stood a chance of killing in the sand, however this was unlikely to acomplish. Considering the fact that even though Heracross was an improvement from Virizion, I felt that he could also be improved on, especially to deal with this problem. I decided to replace Hera with THE greatest check to Excadrill... Gliscor.
Gliscor is an amazing wall, he is able to toxic stall most poke's to death with relative ease, and is without doubt one of the best physical walls in the current metagame, especially with sand teams being thrown around here and there. Gliscor thus manages to provide my team with better defensive capabilities, who can still take status thanks to its toxic orb. Best of all he can 1HKO Excadrill with an Earthquake (2HKO if it's on a balloon, Ice Fang -> EQ) whilst withstanding all of Exca's attacks near perfectly.
Step 10
Now with my team able to counter most threats in the metagame, it began to work much better than previously, although Landorus seemed slightly frail, and was incapable to adapt to certain scenario's, so I decided he needed replacing with someone who could do the same job as him, but with a little more flexibility, from here, we get Dragonite.
Dragonite had better resistances than Landorus, and could also compete against weather teams other than Sandstorm much better, while still taking sand teams brilliantly. He can take out many more leads than Landorus could, and with the particular set I gave him (after running multiple damage calc's) he could 0HKO the majority of any sand team, even Gliscor! However his Choice Band limited him slightly, meaning I had to sweep what I could at the beginning, and revenge kill what I could later on, although I managed to make it work.
A Link To The Past
This teams nicknames were all based upon The Legend Of Zelda, hence the team name, the reason for this?... I was watching the LoZ Skyward Sword trailer while making the team XD ( All of the newer Poke's I've been too lazy to think of nicknames for)
This team is going to need changes like any newly created team, there will be problems and mistakes so all constructive critique will be greatly appreciated in the forms of moveset changes, team changes, or even strategy. Without further ado, heres the team.
Removed Pokemon
Goron (Mamoswine) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Snow Cloak
Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Stealth Rock
Good ol' Goron. This is my favorite Mamoswine set ( apart from Stealth Rock being used over Bite due to him now being a set up lead ) and it works insanely well if I am able to preserve him by switching out after setting up rocks. His STAB Ice Shard doubled with the Attack EV's, Nature, Life Orb, and its Priority, allows him to 1HKO pretty much all standard dragons, provided there not bulky or multiscale D-Nite. Snow Cloak can let him take advantage of hail if im in the presence of an Abomasnow lead, STAB EQ in the QuakeEdge combo is also davastating, if used right, this Goron can roll through teams with relative ease.
Epona (Virizion) @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Epona! This Virizion is simply amazing, he carries STAB Giga Drain to hit Swampert and Rotom-W, sided with CM, this steed becomes incredibly tough to take down. He does add another fighting weakness to the team, although this hasn't seemed too much of a problem upto now. His STAB Focus Blast allows insane damage and coverage, sided with HP Ice, which as stated before may be changed due to this teams lack of dragon weaknesses, I am open to all suggestions here.
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Guts
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 48 SDef / 208 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Sleep Talk
- Megahorn
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Close Combat
This set was brilliant for what I needed him for, he could take a couple hits, and kept the resistances Virizion covered. Alongside this, he could take status well, and could even switch into Spore or any status move of the type and then deal large amounts of damage with his 3 attacks, while outspeeding thanks to his Scarf. Heracross worked brilliantly, but only fits in to certain scenario's, despite this he definately works better than Virizion.
Landorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Hidden Power [Ice]
This set was given to me by a friend so theres not really much for me to say about it, STAB EQ made for pretty efficient 0HKOes against anything that didn't resist, whilst the rest gave good coverage. HP Ice was mainly to 0HKO Gliscor. U-Turn allowed me to leave difficult situations such as a Politoed.
Dragonite (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 60 SAtk / 196 Spd
EVs: 252 Atk / 60 SAtk / 196 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- ExtremeSpeed
- Brick Break
- Outrage
- Ice Beam
- ExtremeSpeed
- Brick Break
- Outrage
- Ice Beam
This Dragonite is my varient of the Choice Bander. At first the set may seem rediculous and unstable... and to be honest, it sort of is, but it still works brilliantly. This set provides perfect coverage, unlike the EQ varient, whilst also being able to 0HKO most poke's placed on common sandstorm teams!
Brick Break 0HKOes TTar, Heatran and Excadrill (Since Heatran and Excadrill are common Air Balloon users, Brick Break becomes much more efficient than EQ), Ice Beam can usually (but not always unfortunately) 0HKO Gliscor and Landorus, Outrage can even 0HKO Conkeldurr, weather it was calc'ed at +1 Bulk Up or not I dont remember, but either way its pretty nice. Lastly ExtremeSpeed is for priority revenge killing.
Tri-Force (Magnezone) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk
- Substitute
- Charge Beam
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Charge Beam
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
This Tri-Force is the typical Sub+3 Attacks set, relatively bulky, equipped with an air baloon to avoid ground attacks, Heatran's Earth Power imparticularly, and the potential to trap a common Ferro, set-up and unleash hell. After trapping a steel type wall such as Ferrothorn, Magnezone can proceed to Sub up, avoiding a potential incoming T-Wave from Ferrothorn, the Charge Beam to its hearts content, and finish it with HP Fire. After this boost in SPAtk, T-Bolts power is unnecersary so the slot is best used for extra coverage in the form of STAB Flash Cannon
Ganon (Scrafty) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 248 SDef
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 248 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Rest
- Crunch
- Drain Punch
- Bulk Up
- Rest
- Crunch
- Drain Punch
GANONDORF! Appropriately named... He's dark, can take hits, and has un-f***ing-believable potential to unleash absolute devistation on its opponent. This used to be a DD set, although a friend enlightened me to a Bulk Up set... and it is simply amazing. It can take hits, Bulk Up, Rest, and Shed Skin it's sleep status away... rinse and repeat. Shed Skin also allows it to take status well. This Scrafty is easy to set up with, and when you do... its hard to stop.
LensOfTruth (Chandelure) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd)
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd)
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Fire Blast
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ground]
LensOfTruth ( couldn't think of anything better ) is a brilliant revenge killer, and spin blocker in nessecerry. He covers my teams insanely poor fire and fighting weakness, whilst carrying STAB Fire Blast and Shadow Ball, paired with a Scarf making him tough to outspeed. Chandelure also carrys HP Ground to hit Heatran and Energy Ball to hit Swampert and Rotom-W whom are only countered by Virizion. There isnt much else to say here besides that this pokemon is a complete powerhouse, carrying one of the highest SPAtk stats in the OU metagame, good coverage, and better bulk than GGar... nothing to complain about here considering he outspeed's GGar after scarf.
Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Toxic
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Toxic
My favorite wall from both Gen 4 and 5. Gliscor brilliantly checks Excadrill, and the majority of a sandstorm team, meaning he alone can take most of the current metagames players with ease. Gliscor can 0HKO Excadrill with EQ, while walling him completely, after running some calc's, this Gliscor can kill a Ballooned +4 Excadrill with Ice Fang + EQ before the Excadrill can KO him with Rock Slide ( Provided there are no crits ), sometimes even a +6 provided Protect is used well. Gliscor's Ice Fang is for popping Balloons and hitting Dragons, and those who resist EQ, althogh these are often Toxic Stalled. STAB EQ provides decent damage on a defencive set, while the main idea of this set is Toxic + Protect stalling, this brings down non-steel walls with ease, also being able to take status ( like the previous poke in this spot, Heracross )
Great Bay (Rotom-W) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 48 HP / 208 SAtk / 252 Spd
EVs: 48 HP / 208 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Charge Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Charge Beam
- Thunderbolt
Lastly Great Bay. My Rotom-W is my pride and joy, I absolutely love it! The typical moveset allows it to have good STAB coverage, STAB SPAtk boosting, and status... W-O-W brings down Scizor in an instant. This Rotom-W provides many roles, he can be switched in to wall many different attacks, deal out status support, while carrying a Lum to prevent status of its own, and also has the potential to be a great sweeper. The few health EV's sacrificed from SPAtk is much more usefull than it seems, it helps him withstand much more, and also Charge Beam can compensate for the lost SPAtk. This Rotom-W set has always worked for me, and hopefully always will... he is an open member of the majority of my teams.
Closing
Well there we go! Theres my team, again im open to all suggestions, team changes, strategy... even LoZ related nicknames! XD Thanks alot for reading and I hope to be able to improve this team even further. It has been without a doubt my most successfull team, and with further improvement, I doubt it will have to be replaced anytime soon. Thanks and I look forward to reading your comments!
