Before I start off with everything, I would like to say that like my older team, which was my first team I ever made when I just started competitive battling in January of 2011, is based around entry hazards. I liked the idea of my older team and I figured I would make a new one starting from scratch, since I have become more better in competitive pokemon battling.
Since the team is based around entry hazards, picked forretress as my lead to set up Stealth Rock and volt switch into something else.
The obvious 4x weakness is just terrible. Just like ferrothorn and scizor, Forretress hates fire with a passion. That is why Heatran is here. Heatran takes full advantage of its ability, Flash Fire, which means this Pokemon's Fire attacks do 1.5x damage if hit by one Fire move. It's great.
I needed a good, offensive spinner since most of my team would hate entry hazards. At first, I thought of Tentacruel, but then I realized Tentacruel would be useless on this team. When I get to this pokemon, I'll explain why I chose Starmie over Tentacruel even though Tentacruel when I get to Starmie. I also chose Starmie because the core Forretress, Heatran, and Starmie work well together, but there's still one thing missing...
Landorus-T is basically the scarfed U-Turner who would perform a late-game Sweep. The Core with Forretress, Heatran, and Starmie is okay, but pokemon like Haxorus or Garchomp who would use earthquake and even with Starmie having Ice beam, it's still really bad. Landorus-T is to cover ground type attacks coming to heatran, after all, Heatran takes full advantage of the entry hazards with roar, just like Skarmory with whirlwind;but I didn't quite get to Skarmory yet.
The overwhelming weakness to water is astounding, with barely any Pokemon to actually take Water attacks without that much damage taken, it might be a threat to this team. With Swampert being in OU and packing Stealth Rock, and Earthquake, Toxicroak is the perfect counter to it. It's great defense allows it to take almost any attack from Swampert, and get health back with Bulk Up and Drain Punch. If Landorus is out, I could switch into Toxicroak and get health back if the pokemon used a water type move because of Toxicroak's ability: Dry Skin. Even though it takes more damage from fire attacks, like I said, Heatran can just soak in all the fire attacks! It even stops Ice types from trying to KO Landorus-T too!
Lastly, I needed a pokemon to set up spikes and could roar or Whirlwind like Heatran can with roar, and is also bulky enough to set them up. Skarmory, also great partners with Heatran, and Landorus-T, can set up Spikes, use roost to get more health, and whirlwind pokemon out! Now, you may be thinking that Forretress has Toxic Spikes, but nope, only Stealth Rock. When I get into the moves and stats of the pokemon, I'll explain why I only have Spikes and Stealth Rock on my team.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 186 Def / 70 SDef
Sassy NatureIVs: 0 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch
- Gyro Ball/Protect
- Rapid Spin
The lead Pokemon! The one who I usually send out first is this guy. I'll just set Stealth Rock and Volt Switch out into a better pokemon if I need too. While that being the case most of the time, it's still handy to have other moves too. Gyro Ball combined with 0 speed EVs, STAB, and Sassy nature really hits things hard, but instead, Protect can be used to scout, because after all, this IS a lead pokemon. It would be good to see what type of pokemon the opponent has sent out. Protect also gives Forretress leftovers recovery. For the last move, Rapid Spin it is there to stop entry hazards. It's always great to have a spiner on your team.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 8 Spd
Careful Nature
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Protect
- Toxic
Heatran, like I said, is here because of forretress' 4x weakness to fire. Since Stealth Rock would most likely be up by then Heatran is on the field, I went for a more bulky set to take advantage of the entry hazards. First off, Lava Plume being the only attacking move, gets STAB and also has a good chance to burn. Roar, even though it makes Heatran go last, is still great for getting rid of Pokemon who are trying to set up, and the pokemon that comes in gets hurt with entry hazards. Protect gives Heatran more Leftovers recovery, and Toxic poisons the opponent's Pokemon. This is why I don't have a Pokemon to set up Toxic Spikes. Lots of poison type Pokemon are in OU, and that right there makes Toxic Spikes Useless. After all, Lava Plume has a change to burn, and Toxic poisons the opponent's Pokemon, so it wasn't really needed. Stealth Rock and Spikes are the most important entry hazards, and there are the ones I am most concerned about.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Recover
A great, special sweeper is all I need for this team. With great speed and special attack it is ideal for a great sweeper. It also doesn't make any more weaknesses to the team such as 2 pokemon being weak to ground or Fire. Hydro Pump is an insanely strong move. With STAB and Life Orb, its Base 120x attack is very deadly. Even though it has 80% accuracy, I have never missed one Hydro Pump testing this team on PS. Although, Stone Edge; THAT is a different story... Anyways, Thunderbolt is great for pokemon like Politoed or Tentacruel. If it isn't scarfed, Starmie will most likely out speed, taking a great chunk from the opponent's Pokemon's health. Ice Beam is for pokemon like Landorus, Dragonite, or Garchomp where a Thunderbolt or a Hydro Pump is okay, but it won't really do that much depending on what pokemon it is, Ice beam just covers all that. There are lots of dragon type pokemon who are 4x weak to Ice, although not really because that much of a threat to this team, Landorus also gets OHKOed as well. But if it is Scarfed, then it might be a bigger threat.
Safe Switch Ins:
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SAtk
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Grass]/Hidden Power [Ice]
During all of my battling with OU, the pokemon I saw A LOT was this pokemon. After using it, now I know why people use this pokemon so much. It's just an extremely good pokemon. Only getting affected by Stealth rock and immune to electric type attacks and ground type attacks, it's a huge threat to lots of teams. While I was choosing pokemon for this slot, I noticed I had heatran who was 4x weak to ground. So, I chose this pokemon. First off, Earthquake gets STAB and combined with Choice Scarf, it is a very good revenge killer. Stone Edge is also great for flyers or pokemon who can't be hit with it because of levitate or something else, and U-Turn is there for switching out Pokemon if necessary. For the last move, Hidden Power, I can't choose whether or not to go with HP Ice, or with HP Grass. Hidden Power Ice is very great as hazorus is common among OU teams now, but so are swamperts and other pokemon like that. I thought about going with HP Grass since I already have Ice Beam on Starmie, but a Choice Scarf and Hidden Power Ice might make a win or a lose.
Safe Switch Ins:
Toxicroak @ Black Sludge
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Substitute
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
This set is really good for Toxicroak. It takes Ice type and Water type attacks and laughs at them. And considering how popular Rain Dance teams are becoming, Dry Skin would be the perfect ability to have.The idea is to come in on something that you can set up on, ideally a Water- or Bug-type move, and use Substitute on the switch. Substitute provides protection from status but leaves you vulnerable to phazing. However, the common OU phazers Skarmory and Hippowdon are more likely to attack with their STAB Flying- and Ground-type moves, respectively. After a few Bulk Ups the Defense boosts allow it to take Earthquakes from the likes of Hippowdon, survive, and recover lost health back with Drain Punch, leaving Hippowdon scrambling in futility with Slack Off and Earthquake, as long as it lacks Roar. 244 EVs in HP keep Toxicroak as bulky as possible without taking away attack power. Speed investment isn't worth much, considering Toxicroak's low base Speed and the set's need for heavy investment in bulk.
Safe Switch Ins:
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
Tried and true, this still stands as Skarmory's best set. After Skarmory makes its presence known on the battlefield, the opponent will likely run away in fear of the metal bird's superb Defense. Skarmory should first lay Spikes to force the opponent to make a rather painful decision when switching in and out of the battlefield. Roost can wear out Life Orb users, such as Metagross and Gyarados, while keeping Skarmory up-to-shape for the next assault. Whirlwind is great against Pokemon such as Bulk Up Conkeldurr or merely shuffling for extra damage from the opponent landing on Spikes. Brave Bird ties it all together nicely with it being a high Base Power STAB move that handles threats nicely, especially Fighting-types such as Machamp and Scrafty.
Safe Switch Ins:
Also, someone said my team is "sooooo" bad when I asked someone on Pokemon Showdown if they could tell me if my team is decent. Here's the chat log:
Them: your team its sooooooo bad
Them: I know
Me: I litterally made is an hour ago
Me: *it
Me: also can you explain why it is bad?
Them: forretress and skarm on the same team = bad
Me: starmie, heatran, and landorus are great switch ins for fire types
Them: isnt for weakness
Me: then why is it?
Me: skarm and forre have the same function
So, should I change stealth rock on Skarmory with taunt and instead of Gyro Ball or Protect on Forretress I should have spikes?
Also, from Marriland's team builder, this looks like a solid team :)
If you want, go to this and see all the stuff from Marriland's team builder :) http://www.marriland.com/tools/team-builder#857|1137|1448|1570|1106|879|
