[RMT] Specs Skymin Team

Well I was on the CAP server and people were discussing the Skymin vote. Tacho then did a battle with Bass in which he exhibited the massive power of Skymin. It killed Bass' entire team with Seed Flare finishing off all the "counters" as they switched in. I immediately rushed to the team builder and constructed this team to take advantage of the little wonder.

At a glance:



Details:

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 80 HP/252 Atk/176 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Trick
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch

Description: Jirachi leads the team. It's very similar to the Trick Metagross leads, but I like Jira better for its increased Speed and the 60% flinch rate of Iron Head. The EVs allow me to outspeed Adamant Lucario after tricking away the Scarf and with it I reach 420 Speed, which goes only a little bit above the rare Electrode, the fastest support lead you'll find. This means it goes before anything with Taunt that doesn't have a scarf for some reason and SR. Against slower leads, however, I can trick my scarf on them and cripple them for the rest of the match while using SR afterwards. A good way to start off the match, and SR is important to my strategy. Iron Head can flinchax later in the game and Ice Punch is for enemy Skymin/Salamence that don't run over 176 Speed.

Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 212 HP/252 Def/44 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- HP Electric

Description: Gives Wish support to the team, counters Gyarados and is my best response to Heatran and Infernape, who can give me a bit of trouble. It's also my best response to bulky Grounds other than Skymin, who usually isn't going to come out in the beginning. I'd use Ice Beam but I really like Wish/Protect, and Protect eases up on prediction for my other Pokemon when I'm dealing with Choice Band Tyranitar and such.

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 36 HP/220 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Magnet Rise
- Thunderbolt
- HP Fire
- Thunder Wave

Description: This is a key member of the team. One of the most annoying things for Skymin is Steel-types like Bronzong and Scizor. This takes them out rather easily with Magnet Pull. The EVs/nature allow me to outrun Adamant 252 Speed Scizor (factoring in the 30 Speed IV for Hidden Power) and kill it with HP Fire before it can strike. Magnet Rise makes me generally safe against Bronzong. Thunder Wave is there as a surprise. Many of the things that will come in on Magnezone after a kill will often attempt to set up on it, like DD Mence, so I paralyze them and turn them into sitting ducks against other members of the team. This is one of the ways I can "check" Mence, speaking of the thing. The other way is this:

Tyranitar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 116 Atk/248 Spd/144 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

Description: This is my first switch-in to Zapdos. Most of the time they will switch out to something that's ordinarily a counter, perhaps predicting a CBTar, only to be faced with a Dragon Dancer. However, this one packs Ice Beam and Fire Blast to severely cripple its counters, like Gliscor and Hippowdon. Its only boosted move may be Crunch, but it works slightly like Agiligross in that it can now outspeed and kill things that it couldn't before, like Lucario (as long as it doesn't have Bullet Punch) with Fire Blast and Salamence with Ice Beam.

Rotom-w @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/68 Def/188 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Discharge
- Will-o-wisp

Description: I have to admit, this is probably the weakest link on the team. It has use in that it absorbs status and does well against certain Pokemon that cause me some trouble like Metagross, Lucario (the EVs allow me to outspeed Adamant) and Yanmega. It also blocks spin which is nice. I haven't been able to find a replacement for it yet, because it does have its uses.

Shaymin-s @ Choice Specs
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Air Slash
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- HP Ice

Description: The star of the show. Specs Shaymin is gamebreakingly good with its ability to 2HKO just about everything with its moves. Once its checks have been either dealt with or damaged enough by my other Pokemon, Skymin comes in the second there's an opening and wreaks havoc with its moves. There are very few things that can switch into Seed Flare without dying the next turn. Not even 252 HP/SpD Calm Blissey is going to last very long with the drops. Air Slash and Earth Power are my main other coverage moves. HP Ice does slightly better against Zapdos who doesn't switch in, and using HP Fire will require me to lose a Speed IV. In the event that this is my last Pokemon, I would like to at least tie another Skymin. It might win me a game I otherwise would've lost.

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That's about it. Rate away. I've found my success rate with this team to be quite high, but there are some obvious flaws and I'm always looking for improvement. Thanks. :) Pictures were done by aragornbird.

Wow Beej, this is an excellent team. You have almost everything covered so it's very hard to recommend everything. And the team looks to work very well together in removing Skymin's counters to let it sweep, so it makes even harder to suggest changes.

I'm just going to point out that you have quite a CB Mamoswine weakness. Earthquake OHKOs Jirachi, Tyranitar and Magnezone, 2HKOs Vaporeon, and Ice Shard OHKOs Skymin. Rotom does help you mitigate this weakness, but if it is taken out unexpectedly then I can see the mammoth giving you some trouble.

On a similar vein, Weavile can also damage this team a lot, but this time it has difficulty in taking out Jirachi and Vaporeon but instead preys on Rotom. I'm not too convinced with your Rotom set, I would recommend you changing it to a Rotom-H with Overheat, Discharge, Reflect and Light Screen with Light Clay. I think it will make setting up with Tyranitar a lot easier, as well as allowing Skymin to switch into more.

Have you considered running Modest on your Skymin? It still allows it to outspeed Gengar, and by extension that means most Starmie as well. The power boost is considerable, and most of the things you lose out to in speed (Weavile, Raikou, Azelf) either have priority (Weavile) which can kill you, or are always leads (Azelf). The reason I recommend Modest is because you 2HKO 80/176 Blissey if she switches into Stealth Rock and you get the SpD drop:

Modest Specsmin Seed Flare vs 80/176 Calm Blissey: 29.5 - 34.9%
Modest Specsmin Seed Flare vs -2 SpD 80/176 Calm Blissey: 59.2 - 69.7%

12.5 + 29.5 + 59.2 - 6.25 = 94.95 (and that's with minimum damage against a full health Blissey)

It also lets you get the guaranteed 2HKO on 252/0 Skarmory with a SpD drop, whereas Timid does not give you that:

Modest Specsmin Seed Flare vs 252/0 Skarmory: 32.3 - 38.2%
Modest Specsmin Seed Flare vs -2 SpD 252/0 Skarmory: 64.7 - 76.0%

12.5 + 32.3 + 64.7 - 6.25 = 103.3%

Like you said, Specsmin is all about using Seed Flare's phenomenal power to break through it's 'counters', and Modest let's you do just that. And besides, when was the last time you saw someone run a Timid Specsmence?

Anyway, like I said, your team is so well built it's hard to find holes in it, but I hope my comments help you in some way.

LR.

EDIT: To the poster below me - Aerodactyl, Crobat and Jolteon are going to outrun Skymin anyway, and Dugtrio will only stay in on Skymin if it is scarfed. And besides, a Jolly CB Dugtrio only has a 12.5% chance of OHKOing Skymin with Stone Edge.

Well I agree the power boost between Modest and Timid is quite big, however, Skymin is in a speed tier of its own, that being said, Salamence is a base 100, and many of the base 100 pokemon run very little speed EVs(Celebi, Jirachi, Zapdos, etc). Meanwhile, the higher speed pokemon, such as Crobat, Jolteon, Aerodactyl, Dugtrio, etc. typically run + Speed natures, so the difference between Timid and Modest could be detrimental. I am too tired to rate the team itself however, but I will post some more later.

Thank you for the help, Legacy Rider. I'll try out your suggestions and see how things go. I think the screens on Rotom may end up being very helpful against certain threats. :)

If you do end up changing Skymin to Modest (which you probably should), I'd suggest putting Body Slam over Ice Punch on Jirachi. The 60% Paralysis rate will help you slow down faster enemies (especially scarfers) so that Modest Skymin can outspeed them and once enemy Skymin/Salamence are paralyzed, SpecSky can take them out at your leisure.

After a Dragon Dance, Tyranitar can pretty much kill any Salamence/Skymin as well, so I feel that Body Slam will help your Skymin sweep a lot more than Ice Punch will.

Actually at the time, Body Slam sorta skipped my mind. It does look like a good idea and it's probably worth a test.

Speaking of Tyranitar, a + Speed natured DDTar, which isn't all that uncommon nowadays, is going to outrun my Skymin after a DD if I run Modest. My team doesn't fair all that well against them either, now that I think of it. Is this a good enough reason to go Timid?

Well, it all comes down to which you would like to do more of: break walls such as Blissey and Skarmory that would otherwise wall you/destroy you, or outspeed DDTar. Again, if you paralyze it, you shouldn't have much of a problem with it at all, but if it breaks through you, you're dead.

Jirachi can either Iron Head flinchhax it or Trick Scarf to it (if it Fire Punches, Vaporeon can handle it, Stone Edge or Crunch mean Mag can paralyze it and Earthquake makes it Rotom/Skymin fodder, and if it DDs again, the player is retarded), so you could always try that.

If you're desperate, give Magnezone Shuca Berry (it can easily stay at high health with Wish) and as long as Magnezone stays at relatively high health, you can't be OHKO'd without Life Orb (which is unfortunately sorta common ;-;) or Stealth Rocks (28% with SR up), but this probably isn't the best solution.

You could always give your Tyranitar Earthquake over Fire Blast as you hit most of the same things for more damage and you can take out enemy DDTars as well (hopefully :P).

Tricking Scarf to it probably is your best bet without significantly changing sets or Pokemon around if you are going with Modest.

Im my opinion, running Sandstorm and having Stealth Rock out on the field can really ruin Skymin's hopes of sweeping.

Also Scizors are running more speed now, to break Mangzone before it gets fried with a Thunderbolt. I'd suggest suing the scarf set from the analysis.

That is all I have for now.

Yeah, as someone mentioned SS + SR don't really help Skymin at all, but I guess if you just run it strictly as a Late Game finisher, it won't be of too much harm. First thing I really noticed when looking at this team was giant weak you have to Salamence. The only thing I really suggest is that you run Jolly on your Jirachi, so you can outspeed all Adamant Salamences, and it's also a great check into 1 DD Gyarados's. Consider Thunder Punch on there, as well probably over Stealth Rock, and drop trick for U-Turn.

As for Rotom, I'm really not liking what it brings to the table, I'd really consider that you run a Swampert over that. Swampert can use SR, freeing up that slot for Jirachi, it will also be a nice check into Salamence, Lucario and a few other threats. I guess that's probably the most useful pokemon that could cover that role, I guess a Stalk Machamp could work, but than you have no SR on your team. I highly reccomend that you keep Thunder Punch on Jirachi, so if you go with Machamp, I'd drop U-Turn for Stealth Rock.

Sorry this is more of a ramble, but I hope you find some things in it useful.