Attack! (Modified HO Strategy)

[TheOSC]

.: Attack! Mission Statement :.

Wow it's been a while since I have posted a RMT... any way this is my 4th entry, "Attack!". This time I based the team build off of a modified "Hyper Offensive" Strategy, Employing HO's famous ability to scare off an opponent and gain a free turn of boost, then wreaking havoc among the opponent's roster. However unlike most HO teams this one doesn't focus on bulk at all and relies more on speed to get the job done fast. It also features an Electivire who brings a bit more to the chaos when he switches in.

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.: Attack! V1.0 :.

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(Sorry in advance, the Threats are a bit bare on this one. HO relies on threatening not being threatened so there aren't many things that truly scare my pokes enough to be called a true "threat" this go around.)

Team Building

Tricks are always important and this team was no exception, Running a 3 attack Aerodactyl with tail wind has been very surprising (and effective) to a lot of people, my self included, getting me quite a few easy KO's / Switches in the early game. After either being brought to his sash or hit with enough small hits that he is on his last leg I suicide him with a free Tailwind to help my next poke grab the easy RK / free turn of boost.


Running Aero left me with a big decision to make. I needed a poke who could reliably switch in after his suicide and make use of TW in a big way. LO Starmie is and always has been a quick powerful Pokemon with the ability to blow huge holes in any physical wall and even most special. With a TW boost not even a scarfed version will catch her and she can begin to Sweep with ease.


Aerodactyl and Starmie both scream electricity bait, so to counter the weakness I added one of the fastest and largest coverage sweeps in the game. Electivire. Granting me a perfect electricity immunity and the ability to switch in on most of Starmie's worst enemies made him the perfect choice for this slot.


Looking at my coverage I noticed that there were still quite a few gaps that could be easily filled by most any steel. However I didn't want to slow down my momentum with a bulky poke like Heatran (and Scarfing was just to limiting on a team like this) So I went with the other steel menace Scizor.


Trying to stay conscious of my typing I grabbed a Physical based Dragonite to fill slot number five. Dragonite has the beautiful ability to scare off a huge portion of the meta game, ensuring a free DD every time he comes out, add to that his natural power and he will blast down any poke before they have a chance to fire back (bar Ice Shard)


Finaly Gengar rounds off the team for a few reasons, 1 he is a fast reliable sweeper with near perfect coverage from only 3 moves, 2 he didn't imbalance my type charts in any way shape or form, and 3 his plethora of standard move sets makes even a standard build Gengar hard to predict until it is to late.

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The Team

Aerodactyl*: The Wind
EV's: HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spe 252
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Pressure
@ Focus Sash
1. Aqua Tail
2. Crunch / Stone Edge / Stealth Rocks
3. Earthquake
4. Tailwind

Purpose: To (A) either damage/KO the lead poke hard when they expect the SR/Taunt and (B) Set up the Tailwind on his way out. By running the move set above I am able to hit most of the top 10 leads with super effective damage and bring them all down to a 2hko range.

• Azelf: Crunch hits for roughly 55-60% on a standard lead elf
• Machamp: brought down to around 20% by EQ
• Aerodactyl: Aqua Tail will bring to the low 20% range
• Metagross: EQ is roughly 50% and grabs the 2hko if he doesn't switch
• Swampert: None
• Jirachi: EQ
• Infernape: EQ
• Roserade: EQ
• Heatran: EQ/Aqua Tail (Generaly I use AT because they will Run)
• Ninjask**: Stone Edge (If you opt for Stone edge over crunch)

Threats: Speed Tie on other Aero (I have NEVER won one...) Azelf exploding before I can drop Tail Wind for my switch in, and Bronzong. Azelf is apparently just faster (not sure how w/o Choice Scarf) and can hit just as hard. Bronzong is to bulky to take much "real" damage from my Aerodactyl

(**Ninjask can not be 2HKO'ed due to his Protect/Sub sets)

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Starmie: The Split
EV's: HP 4 / Spe 252 / SpA 252
Nature: Timid
Ability: Natural Cure
@ Life Orb
1. Hydro Pump
2. Ice Beam
3. Thunderbolt
4. Pain Split

Purpose: A special sweeper who can also act as a lure for electric attacks, setting up Electivire for a sweep. Not to mention almost PERFECT coverage from Bolt Beam + Hydro Pump. I run Pain Split over Recover for a few BIG reasons. 1 Blissy, With Pain split I can Attack Blissy with Starmie until I hit roughly 10% health from Life Orb Damage, then I pain split monopolizing on Blissy's massive health pool and reducing her to a small enough % Starmie can land a KO. The other is the sheer amount of PP it has, roughly double

Threats: If Electivire is down then Choice Scarf Timid Starmie is one, Gengar is really the only other. However both are covered fairly well by my Dragonite as well so its not to big of an issue.

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Electivire: The Drive
EV's: HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spe 252
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Motor Drive
@ Expert Belt
1. Cross Chop
2. Earthquake
3. Ice Punch
4. Thunder Punch

Purpose: Physical Sweeping in a BIG way. after a motor drive Electivire can literally 6-0 a team by him self. Covering an astounding 13 of 17 types with his attacks and a massive base Atk stat to begin with he is one of the best additions to the team yet. (This is one of my biggest DD Gyrados checks as most will switch in on my Aerodactyl and throw out T-wave on turn 2. allowing me to eat the T-Wave and start sweeps on turn 3)

Threats: If he has a motor drive the only threat is missing cross chop everything else just gets left in the dust.

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Scizor: The Saber
EV's: HP 4 / Atk 252 / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Technician
@ Life Orb
1. Brick Break
2. Bug Buz / Pursuit
3. Bullet Punch
4. Swords Dance

Purpose: To maintain ballance in my type charts, and allow for an EASY setup; scaring other pokemon with threat of CB bullet punch then simply stacking a SD instead. Brick Break and Bullet Punch cover the majority of the meta game and bug buz is fun. (I didn't want to run U-turn on the team because switching with U-turn will loose a set up turn, this has the same coverage) Pursuit is usually the better option here. Covering more similar types and hitting Pokemon as they flee.

Threats: Fire, ground, Magnazone, everything that every other Scizor has issues with. He isn't perfect but he can sure rack up a few kills.

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Dragonite: The Mauler
EV's: HP 252 / Atk 52 / Spe 204
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Inner Focus
@ Life Orb
1. Dragon Claw
2. Dragon Dance
3. Earthquake
4. Roost

Purpose: Another big physical threat with a plethora of resistances to balance out the team in both offense and defense. Dragonite (since Mence's move) now poses a genuine threat to teams, one so bad that most people switch out when they see him hit the field, throw up a DD and watch their team crumble to stab Dragon Claw and boosted EQ's.
(Roost for prolonged stall battles where healing is actually required)

Threats: Ice Shard from Wevile, Ice Beam from Kingdra/Starmie and SR.

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Gengar: The Temp
EV's: HP 4 / Spe 252 / SpA 252
Nature: Timid
Ability: Levitate
@ Leftovers
1. Focus Blast
2. Hidden Power (Fire)
3. Shadow Ball
4. Substitute

Purpose: To add a bit of bulk to the party with out slowing down the action. Turn 1 Sub turn 2-6 KO the rest of the opponents pokemon with out any issues. (Ok that's a bit exaggerated, but not much) With a sub up Gengar no longer has to worry about Timid Choice Starmie or other faster Gars. Instead he can just fire off free Shadow Balls and either KO or cripple an entire team.

Threats: Missing Focus Blast on a strong Steel type or anything with pursuit if he doesn't have his sub up.
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*At risk of being dropped.
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Currently I'm trying to find the weak points and then revamp the team as necessary, I'm defiantly not going to object to Pokemon switches if you think a different Pokemon will benefit the team more. Please reply, rate, and help me out with building the Team.

(I have noticed a slight DD Gyrados weakness.)

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-SPECIAL THANKS TO
~TBA~

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(Also, feel free to check out my older RMT threads located in my signature.)

[qwertytommy]

Any scarfed pokemon with a higher speed stat, such as flygon or jirachi could cause problems with that electivire, although you do at least have 3 ground resists which works nicely. CB scizor, who isn't weak to any of his attacks can OHKO with superpower, possibly OHKO with U-turn (89.7% - 105.8%) and 2hko with any other move. So I suggest you at least replace one of his moves with fire punch to avoid this, or go for a mixed attacker with flamethrower.
He also isn't a great DD gyarados check due to the fact that no DD gyarados would switch in on him, and if you switch in on the dragon dance then he outspeeds you and will most likely OHKO you first unless it's a bulky variant, in which case waterfall will only do 87.3% - 102.7% so there's still a chance he will if he doesn't switch.

I think if you maybe put a choice scarf on your starmie, or on your gengar (replacing a move with thunderbolt) then you would have a lot less to fear from gyarados.

Other than that, nice team!

[min min]

Ummm...not to nitpick but I agree with above in that mixed>physical for Electivire. Scizor can tear through most of your team save Scizor himself, and hitting it with Flamethrower is a big plus. Swampert gives it troubles but meh, that's what Starmies and Gengars live to get rid of.

Oh, and Tailwind seems unnecessary unless you really need Dragonite to get off a really quick DD and Rosst in Starmie's face.

[iamLEGION]

The reason you haven't won any speed ties with opposing aero is that they almost all run jolly.

[Jaysel]

Hi good team here. I am not a veteran here or anything, but have you tried a life orb Gyarados? He has great synergy with E-vire, and is unstoppable after two DD's.

[TheOSC]

Originally Posted by Fat qwertytommy

CB scizor, who isn't weak to any of his attacks can OHKO with superpower, possibly OHKO with U-turn (89.7% - 105.8%) and 2hko with any other move.

He also isn't a great DD gyarados check due to the fact that no DD gyarados would switch in on him, and if you switch in on the dragon dance then he outspeeds you and will most likely OHKO you first unless it's a bulky variant, in which case waterfall will only do 87.3% - 102.7% so there's still a chance he will if he doesn't switch.

Yea so far I haven't had to many issues with CB scizor because they will generally go for the Super Power and I just switch in Gengar grabbing the free turn to Sub and sweep, however I can see how FP could be helpfull (maybe drop cross chop for it, between Fire Punch and EQ I would be hitting roughly the same things)

As for Checking DD Gyarados Evire can potentialy 6-0 a team, you can only hide your Gyarados for so long untill he has to come out. If Evire gets KO'ed then I can switch to Starmie on the free turn and pick up my sweep where I left off. The only time I have really had an issue with DD Gyarados is one switching in to eat BP from Scizor then DDancing on the switch. I know a scarf would fix it but it also hinders a lot of my teams ability to sweep effectively

Originally Posted by Fat min min

Ummm...not to nitpick but I agree with above in that mixed>physical for Electivire. Scizor can tear through most of your team save Scizor himself, and hitting it with Flamethrower is a big plus. Swampert gives it troubles but meh, that's what Starmies and Gengars live to get rid of.

Oh, and Tailwind seems unnecessary unless you really need Dragonite to get off a really quick DD and Rosst in Starmie's face.

Well I don't particularly like using his mix set on account of his physical stat giving much more damage, the requirement to take points out of speed (more initial speed means motor drive is more effective), and you can run moves that hit for the same type on either, however I wll try it out later today (I have work in 30min whoot -_-.) As for Tailwind, it is there to allow me to Outspeed anti leads that may still be alive OR use Starmie to RK lead Starmie with out risk of speed tie.

[SlottedPig]

Why is Aerodactyl running Aqua Tail? Aqua Tail hits ... Aerodactyl and Heatran. Aerodactyl is stone edge'd and heatran is earthquaked anyway ... i recommend you use the standard Stone Edge / Earthquake / Taunt / SR set. even if you use tailwind right as you die you only have 2 turns to abuse it and if you don't use it as you die, 1 turn. + Taunt can stop azelf setting rocks which greatly helps dnite.

[Faladran]

I've noticed that you've listed the reason for Gengar's addition to the team as "adding a bit of bulk." While Gengar can indeed be difficult to handle behind a Substitute, it is really only safe switching in on one of its immunities, as most neutral attacks will deal heavy damage to it.

Since you've also mentioned Gyarados as a potentially difficult threat to handle, I'd like to suggest trying out a Celebi over Gengar's spot:

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/224 SAtk/32 Spd
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Grass Knot
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
- Hidden Power [Fire]

This is basically the Tinkerbell set from the analysis page, but I added in max HP EV's and Leftovers for some extra bulk. Celebi does well against most variants of Gyarados, either crippling them with Thunder Wave or 2HKO'ing with Grass Knot after Stealth Rock damage. Recover ensures some extra durability, and Hidden Power Fire will OHKO Scizors trying to U-turn on you.

Good luck with your team!

[sora13]

Originally Posted by Fat ThePowerWithin

Why is Aerodactyl running Aqua Tail? Aqua Tail hits ... Aerodactyl and Heatran. Aerodactyl is stone edge'd and heatran is earthquaked anyway ... i recommend you use the standard Stone Edge / Earthquake / Taunt / SR set. even if you use tailwind right as you die you only have 2 turns to abuse it and if you don't use it as you die, 1 turn. + Taunt can stop azelf setting rocks which greatly helps dnite.

What about hippowdon and gliscor?

[TheOSC]

Originally Posted by Fat ThePowerWithin

Why is Aerodactyl running Aqua Tail? Aqua Tail hits ... Aerodactyl and Heatran. Aerodactyl is stone edge'd and heatran is earthquaked anyway ... i recommend you use the standard Stone Edge / Earthquake / Taunt / SR set. even if you use tailwind right as you die you only have 2 turns to abuse it and if you don't use it as you die, 1 turn. + Taunt can stop azelf setting rocks which greatly helps dnite.

Yea exactly what sora said. I get a better overall coverage out of AT/EQ than I do out of SR/EQ and this Aerodactyl is a bluff (Not to mention a LOT of people will switch out to soemthing that could eat an SR with NVE damage, since they dont expect aquatail it is a great neutral move to hit a lot of switchins with). he is ment to hit the opponent first NOT try and prevent their set up. the Taunt build is something to consider but not my first choice for this team. If anything I would rather pick up a new lead.

Originally Posted by Fat Faladran

I've noticed that you've listed the reason for Gengar's addition to the team as "adding a bit of bulk." While Gengar can indeed be difficult to handle behind a Substitute, it is really only safe switching in on one of its immunities, as most neutral attacks will deal heavy damage to it.

Since you've also mentioned Gyarados as a potentially difficult threat to handle, I'd like to suggest trying out a Celebi over Gengar's spot. Good luck with your team!

Cool suggestion, I'll try this out tonight HOWEVER it may be to much of a bulk based Pokemon and not enough in the way of offense, this is a HO based team so everything in it must be an immediate threat capable of sweeping. If i drop gar for a different poke i think the best bet is a scarfed RK'er.

Thanks so far for all the suggestions and comments. Please keep them coming!