I used to play a lot, but life sort of got in the way. I'm now back and able to take this somewhat seriously. I'm still getting used to the meta, but I decided to make my own team from scratch based on what I could remember, and I'm having reasonable success with it (went from 1000-1500 ish in a day), now I'm hovering around 1500 mostly because I'm bad, but I am wondering if there is anything I can add to make my team better.
At a glance:
Teambuilding:
I wanted to build this team around a core of Jirachi & Zapdos. After that I added Zygarde, as I really liked his capability as an offensive sweeper, and Dragon is still an excellent type. I had a look at what I was weak to, and added a Tyranitar to cover Dark and Ghost resistances, and Ghost and Normal type coverage offensively. I still needed Water resistance, and I didn't want to add any more Ice weakness, so the first thing I thought of was Ferrothorn, especially as I was lacking entry hazard support. For the last spot, I knew I was still missing a strong Water type, and I had issues with Sableeye, so I chose Tapu Fini.
The Team:
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Zapdos has long been one of my favourite mons. I really like him as he's bulky while doing a lot of damage. He's an excellent check against Excadrill, Metagross, Scizor and Ferrothorn. I chose HP:Ice as it is a great surprise against Landorus-T, and Garchomp who often think they can switch in with impunity. This also makes Zapdos incredibly useful as he can kill many threats who lay entry hazards. As the team is more offensive, I can deal with the chip damage from hazards, and don't think Defog is all that useful.
He's got great coverage, and can take a hit while giving one back. The Ground immunity is just icing on the cake.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish
Jirachi is another of my favourites, and Scarf Jirachi is a great revenge killer and scout. Healing Wish lets me recharge another sweeper, and Iron Head is just fantastic with the abundance of Fairy types running around - not to mention the Flinch hax.
I'm not entirely sure about Heart Stamp, I like the coverage it has and it's saved me quite a few times against the likes of Venusaur, but sometimes I find myself wishing for Fire Punch. Jirachi is also really great to bait out Earthquakes, and give a free switch into Zapdos.
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Banded Tyranitar is a great wallbreaker, and Pursuit has won me many a game, allowing me to trap and kill threats, and rendering the Lati@s twins completely useless. Stone Edge is really powerful, and Superpower gets rid of quite a few threats that might otherwise stop the team in its tracks such as Ferrothorn and Chansey. Not many people seem to expect the Superpower either for some reason.
The Sandstorm is also not to be underestimated - the chip damage really hurts the other team, while not doing very much to the bulky Ground and Steel types in mine.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Ferrothorn is a great defensive pivot, and a perfect check for bulky water types such as Rotom-W and Gastrodon who otherwise can give my team a bit of bother. He's also a great switch in to anything that does physical damage, as Iron Barbs can do a good amount of chip damage, and he can take a lot of hits. Gyro Ball also does a surprising amount of damage.
I opted to go for Spikes and Stealth rocks over Power Whip, as anything that Ferrothorn can threaten with Power Whip, he can basically stay in indefinitely against with Leech Seed, so while he does that he may as well place entry hazards. Spikes and Stealth Rock together add up to a whole lot of chip damage, but I have to be careful about defog as that seems to be more common nowadays.
Zygarde @ Life Orb
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
This guy is my physical set up sweeper. I opted for Dragon Dance, as hitting first seemed to be more important than bulk. Thousand Arrows is great, and because it hits any flying or hovering enemy is a really good choice for spamming.
Outrage is excellent vs other dragons, and when all their Steels are dead, but I tend to opt for Thousand Arrows in most cases. Extreme Speed is really good as +2 priority for finishing off annoying enemies, and makes Zygarde a decent revenge killer too.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Taunt
This guy is a bulky special set up sweeper. I was looking for something that had a Fairy type move, and was a bulky Water type and this guy really fit the bill. I tried the Defog set, but I felt I needed Water type coverage. There are so many opportunities that this guy has to sit and set up, especially as he is immune to status and he becomes quite tanky after a Calm Mind or two. I'm not quite as sure of this guy, but he seems to pull his weight.
Weaknesses:I don't know the meta well enough to know my main weaknesses, but mons I've had trouble with include Sableye, Hippowdon, and Charizard Y. Hippowdon and Sableeye I tried to solve with Tapu Fini going to a Calm Mind set, which seemed to go ok.
Charizard Y is capable of killing my entire team in one hit bar Zygarde and Zapdos, and Tapu Fini is not strong enough to tank hits from him.
At a glance:
Teambuilding:
I wanted to build this team around a core of Jirachi & Zapdos. After that I added Zygarde, as I really liked his capability as an offensive sweeper, and Dragon is still an excellent type. I had a look at what I was weak to, and added a Tyranitar to cover Dark and Ghost resistances, and Ghost and Normal type coverage offensively. I still needed Water resistance, and I didn't want to add any more Ice weakness, so the first thing I thought of was Ferrothorn, especially as I was lacking entry hazard support. For the last spot, I knew I was still missing a strong Water type, and I had issues with Sableeye, so I chose Tapu Fini.
The Team:
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Zapdos has long been one of my favourite mons. I really like him as he's bulky while doing a lot of damage. He's an excellent check against Excadrill, Metagross, Scizor and Ferrothorn. I chose HP:Ice as it is a great surprise against Landorus-T, and Garchomp who often think they can switch in with impunity. This also makes Zapdos incredibly useful as he can kill many threats who lay entry hazards. As the team is more offensive, I can deal with the chip damage from hazards, and don't think Defog is all that useful.
He's got great coverage, and can take a hit while giving one back. The Ground immunity is just icing on the cake.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish
Jirachi is another of my favourites, and Scarf Jirachi is a great revenge killer and scout. Healing Wish lets me recharge another sweeper, and Iron Head is just fantastic with the abundance of Fairy types running around - not to mention the Flinch hax.
I'm not entirely sure about Heart Stamp, I like the coverage it has and it's saved me quite a few times against the likes of Venusaur, but sometimes I find myself wishing for Fire Punch. Jirachi is also really great to bait out Earthquakes, and give a free switch into Zapdos.
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Banded Tyranitar is a great wallbreaker, and Pursuit has won me many a game, allowing me to trap and kill threats, and rendering the Lati@s twins completely useless. Stone Edge is really powerful, and Superpower gets rid of quite a few threats that might otherwise stop the team in its tracks such as Ferrothorn and Chansey. Not many people seem to expect the Superpower either for some reason.
The Sandstorm is also not to be underestimated - the chip damage really hurts the other team, while not doing very much to the bulky Ground and Steel types in mine.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Ferrothorn is a great defensive pivot, and a perfect check for bulky water types such as Rotom-W and Gastrodon who otherwise can give my team a bit of bother. He's also a great switch in to anything that does physical damage, as Iron Barbs can do a good amount of chip damage, and he can take a lot of hits. Gyro Ball also does a surprising amount of damage.
I opted to go for Spikes and Stealth rocks over Power Whip, as anything that Ferrothorn can threaten with Power Whip, he can basically stay in indefinitely against with Leech Seed, so while he does that he may as well place entry hazards. Spikes and Stealth Rock together add up to a whole lot of chip damage, but I have to be careful about defog as that seems to be more common nowadays.
Zygarde @ Life Orb
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
This guy is my physical set up sweeper. I opted for Dragon Dance, as hitting first seemed to be more important than bulk. Thousand Arrows is great, and because it hits any flying or hovering enemy is a really good choice for spamming.
Outrage is excellent vs other dragons, and when all their Steels are dead, but I tend to opt for Thousand Arrows in most cases. Extreme Speed is really good as +2 priority for finishing off annoying enemies, and makes Zygarde a decent revenge killer too.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Taunt
This guy is a bulky special set up sweeper. I was looking for something that had a Fairy type move, and was a bulky Water type and this guy really fit the bill. I tried the Defog set, but I felt I needed Water type coverage. There are so many opportunities that this guy has to sit and set up, especially as he is immune to status and he becomes quite tanky after a Calm Mind or two. I'm not quite as sure of this guy, but he seems to pull his weight.
Weaknesses:I don't know the meta well enough to know my main weaknesses, but mons I've had trouble with include Sableye, Hippowdon, and Charizard Y. Hippowdon and Sableeye I tried to solve with Tapu Fini going to a Calm Mind set, which seemed to go ok.
Charizard Y is capable of killing my entire team in one hit bar Zygarde and Zapdos, and Tapu Fini is not strong enough to tank hits from him.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Zygarde @ Life Orb
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Taunt
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Zygarde @ Life Orb
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Taunt