My first team (Hyper Offense attempt)

IzzGuildmage · Sep 27th, 2012, 6:40:24 PM

This is my 3rd day playing on Pokemon Online. I've been messing around with a couple popular teams by other players (rain stall, sand offense, mix teams with good defensive cores), but I figured: What's the point of only battling with other people's teams? A true Pokemon Master uses their favorites and tries to make them work!

Well, after spending countless hours in the B/W Battle Subway, I like to boost it up and just wreck entire teams with a single Pokémon. Also, Dragonite, Gyarados and Cloyster have always been some of my most liked Pokemon from gen 1, and they seemed appropriate for this strategy. Raising speed and attack stats at the same time is obviously very powerful!

So I started out with Cloyster, Gyarados and Dragonite, and the most obvious problem right off the bat is weakness to Stealth Rocks. To prevent this, I need something that can taunt opposing stealth rockers, and possibly set up Rocks of their own. I could go for a 1st gen monogen team and pick Aerodactyl, but for the moment I do like to make my first team competitive, and because of that I want to explore all the options and not limit myself just yet.

I liked how Deoxys-S functioned as a suicide lead, but obviously every Deoxys except Defense has been banned to Ubers. I was using Deoxys-D for a while, and I liked how he didn't just die on the spot, but in the end he was just a little too slow, and got Taunted constantly. I went for Azelf instead for its amazing speed, and access to Taunt, Rocks and duel screens which further helps support the setup sweepers.

Now to round off any weaknesses the team might have. The last two pokes are in constant flux, but for the moment I have settled on a couple quite effective candidates. For spinblocking and revenge-killing, Choice Scarf Chandelure. This candlestick has amazing special attack and coverage, and being immune to fire, fighting and normal moves comes in handy on a regular basis. Lastly, an offensive Forretress, to spin away hazards and set up a couple on his own, but also to surprise Terrakion and Tyranitar with a max attack min speed Gyro Ball to the face!

Without further ado, on to the team:

MewThree (Azelf) @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Light Screen
- Reflect

My lead. Some games it leads off against stealth rockers, taunt them, sets up rocks, and dies. Other games, I need to set up a screen right away to survive their attack. Most of the time I get to set up rocks and screens before I die. This thing supports Dragonite very well, seeing as screens + Multiscale almost assuredly gives it two free DDs, and if I manage to taunt the opponent before I go down, I even get to prevent early status moves.

Clamps (Cloyster) (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 14 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Razor Shell

Allstar (though not actually a star). After a Shell Smash I get to outspeed and kill nearly anything. The multitype attacks allow it to break through Substitutes, and gives it a higher chance of dealing even more damage with crits (though the likelyhood of doing 2x damage is very small). Ice, Rock and Water make for a pretty perfect coverage. Jolly and 244 Spd to outspeed all those Scarf Terrakions I keep facing, which otherwise Stone Edge me to death.

Chillin (Dragonite) (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Punch
- Outrage
- ExtremeSpeed

MVP of the team. Since I'm starting out, a lot of the people I face are inexperienced like myself, and in some games I just get to set up screens and rocks, let Azelf die, switch to this guy, DD up two or three times and just Outrage everything. Lum helps against status, obviously, as any status is annoying indeed. But if I don't get statused, it's just a free ticket to start Outraging again after the initial 2-3 turns of OHKOes are finished. E-speed against priority attacks, and Fire Punch against Steel types not called Heatran.

Lumiere (Chandelure) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

This guy takes out opposing setup sweepers, and T-tars who think they can come in and pursuit trap it. Obviously requires a lot of prediction, but most of the time if it's early to mid game I can pick Energy Ball or HP Fighting and 2HKO pokes that thought they would be safe against his STABs. However if the opposing team doesn't have fire/shadow resists, I get to wreak havoc with it. Timid and Scarf means I don't really pack enough of a punch to OHKO many threats, so I rely on people switching something into its attacks, allowing me to kill with a second one. However, Chandelure's typing and ability often force switches, so the scenario happens often. Fire Blast used to be Overheat, but Overheat misses anyways and being able to keep Chandelure in and go for a second fire attack just as powerful as the first one is too valueble.

See (Gyarados) (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Frustration
- Waterfall
- Bounce

This is the sea, as you can see! Bounce is an often unexpected move, OHKOing grass types who think they can safely switch in, resisting EQ and STAB Waterfalls. However I just get to Bounce up after DDing once or twice, and then they either have to sac it or risk the paralysis on another poke. Protect kind of makes this plan look silly, but at that point I can just start spamming Frustration until they die. Lum against status once again, since toxic, burn, paralysis and sleep are all equally crippling, turning Gyarados from a sweeper that takes down their entire team to a setup fodder for enemy sweepers or hazard casters. Moxie over Intimidate because I have screens up anyways and it makes sweeping that much easier.

Wall (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake

(0 Speed IVs)

Sometimes your taunter dies and you need a spinner to clear the way! With so many pokes weak to Rocks I really did need a spinner, and Forretress fits the bill for having access to both Sturdy (guaranteed spin) and Gyro Ball (wrecking Gengar and some other spinblockers). That's at least the theory. In practice however, it's hard, nay, impossible, to keep spinning against Ferrothorn. Other pokemon I have been playing with in this spot are Aerodactyl (for taunt/SR), Genesect (threatening spinners out with powerful moves boosted by Expert Belt) and Scizor (with Bug Bite, Swords Dance, Roost to set up on Ferrothorn).

Having played a fair amount of games with this team, this is the threat list that comes to mind:

Threats

- Rotom-Wash. This thing is just so annoying, and everyone seems to use him. It's easy to see why, he's unpredictable, he can mess you up with Will-o, Trick, or just Volt Switch out and move into their best option right away. I've also encountered a few with HP Ice to take out my Nite. Usually when I see him in the lead position, I use light screen to take less from the predicted Volt Switch or Hydro Pump, but I still get in trouble if it turns out to be Scarf or Specs. Mid to late game, it disregards Multiscale and recovers off damage with Pain Split, and its typing makes it very hard to kill. I get to Energy Ball it sometimes against unsuspecting opponents who just blindly click Hydro Pump against my Chandelure, and an Outrage from D-nite OHKOes it after I get my boosts in, but getting the boosts in the first place is hard when they have Will-O.

- Mamoswine. My team has difficulty with priority attack in general (Scizor, Metagross, most fighting types) since I rely heavily on the Focus Sash on Cloyster, but this beast deserves special mention. They rarely start out with him so I can't Taunt him to prevent him from setting up rocks (I usually let Azelf die, and when I don't... I get one kill, they choose the Swine, I can't switch in and Taunt before he sets up rocks), and he's also too bulky to take out in one hit. So the rocks are pretty much there. He's the reason I picked Forretress - I can spin away the rocks and beat him up with Gyro Balls. His Ice Shard 2HKOes my Dragonite, or OHKO if it has any damage at all. A Cloyster at 1 hp that's been Shell Smashed up has no chance. Just all-around pain in the ass.

- Weather. Hail and Sand break multiscale and focus sash, and make it way easier to revenge kill my setup sweepers, even with their speed boosts. And don't even get me started with rain stall. Occasionally I get to kill off Tentacruels and Jellicents and Politoeds in the rain, but these rain stall teams are just so streamlined and overused and proven to be the best team out there that it's just really demotivating to play against. Yeah I guess I should try out Clear Skies or whatever, but this meta seems to have all the players, and I don't feel like waiting 10 minutes for a match.

- Terrakion. I've only seen them scarfed, but I see them often, especially on sand teams. They're too bulky to take out quickly, and they just OHKO all my attacking pokemon with Stone Edge, after sandstorm scrubs away their multiscale/sash protection. Forretress kinda takes him on, but he can't take that many his either, which is a problem when I need to switch him in to take a hit. I find myself having to choose between Rapid Spin and Gyro Ball too often.

- Ferrothorn. This thing is just a monster. Survives +1 Fire Punch from D'nite and just Leech Seeds it, survives Icicle Spears, resists anything my Gyarados can do (it just Protects against Bounce) and trying to spin it is a joke since it sets up Rocks again just as easily while I take damage from Iron Barbs. Yes I get to send in Chandelure against it, but they just switch out. All-around pain.

Import

Thanks for reading, and please help me improve this team!

Also, this is my first post, please tell me if I did something wrong so I can fix it :)

helldog · Sep 28th, 2012, 8:21:42 AM

Hey couple of suggestions: Why don't you make Cloyster a Naughty/Naive nature with hydro pump? Defensive steel types such as Magnezone, Skarmory, and Metagross won't get KOed by any of those moves even after a shell smash. So why don't you use a mixed set with hydro pump to take advantage of its lower SpDef? And since you have a sash anyway, a -SpDef nature won't hinder you in any way.

Also, too bad Chandelure's probably going to get banned starting from next month. It might not, but it is likely so you might want to start searching for other pokes. And I don't know what exactly your looking for but seeing that Chandelure is your only special attacker, I think you should try out a special sweeper like Gengar. But again, I don't exactly know what your looking for so I can't suggest anything further than this.

And one last thing. Although very rare this gen, Aerodactyls and Crobats can shut your azelf down with taunt, or any faster taunters. So I suggest you use an Espeon for your dual screen lead for 100% safety. With magic bounce, it will never get taunted and Espeon can also utilize its massive special attack when she needs to attack. And since you lost stealth rocks from azelf, replace earthquake for stealth rock on your Forretress. An unstabbed earthquake especially from Forretress's mediocre attack won't be doing too much anyway.

Dr Ciel · Sep 28th, 2012, 8:59:32 AM

Hey there. That's a pretty cool hyper offense team you got going on there. I have been a fan of hyper offense since gen 4 and thought I'd help you out. I have a few suggestions that you can try to help this team improve, so let's take a deeper look into this team, shall we? Okay, when I take a glance over this team, I notice that your team will struggle against teams with entry hazards, most notably Stealth Rock, as 4 Pokemon on your team take 25% of their health taken away every time they switch in, and even though you do have a rapid spinner in Forretress, when it goes down, you're in for a world of hurt. To help remedy this weakness, I suggest that you use a use a Choice Scarf Latios in place of your current Chandelure. Latios does a similar job as Chandelure in terms of revenge killing, and becomes one of the fastest in the tier, even outspeeding Scarf Terrakion, and can also revenge kill most of the tier with its amazing coverage. Moving on, I suggest that you change your Forretress to a Standard Spiker over your current set. With this set, Forretress can Rapid Spin hazards away easier while setting up some of its own hazards. Well, that's all I have to say for this team. I hope my suggestions helped just a bit. Have fun and good luck with your team!

Sets

~Dr Ciel~

Sep 27th, 2012, 6:40:24 PM	#1
IzzGuildmage Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 2	My first team (Hyper Offense attempt) This is my 3rd day playing on Pokemon Online. I've been messing around with a couple popular teams by other players (rain stall, sand offense, mix teams with good defensive cores), but I figured: What's the point of only battling with other people's teams? A true Pokemon Master uses their favorites and tries to make them work! Well, after spending countless hours in the B/W Battle Subway, I like to boost it up and just wreck entire teams with a single Pokémon. Also, Dragonite, Gyarados and Cloyster have always been some of my most liked Pokemon from gen 1, and they seemed appropriate for this strategy. Raising speed and attack stats at the same time is obviously very powerful! So I started out with Cloyster, Gyarados and Dragonite, and the most obvious problem right off the bat is weakness to Stealth Rocks. To prevent this, I need something that can taunt opposing stealth rockers, and possibly set up Rocks of their own. I could go for a 1st gen monogen team and pick Aerodactyl, but for the moment I do like to make my first team competitive, and because of that I want to explore all the options and not limit myself just yet. I liked how Deoxys-S functioned as a suicide lead, but obviously every Deoxys except Defense has been banned to Ubers. I was using Deoxys-D for a while, and I liked how he didn't just die on the spot, but in the end he was just a little too slow, and got Taunted constantly. I went for Azelf instead for its amazing speed, and access to Taunt, Rocks and duel screens which further helps support the setup sweepers. Now to round off any weaknesses the team might have. The last two pokes are in constant flux, but for the moment I have settled on a couple quite effective candidates. For spinblocking and revenge-killing, Choice Scarf Chandelure. This candlestick has amazing special attack and coverage, and being immune to fire, fighting and normal moves comes in handy on a regular basis. Lastly, an offensive Forretress, to spin away hazards and set up a couple on his own, but also to surprise Terrakion and Tyranitar with a max attack min speed Gyro Ball to the face! Without further ado, on to the team: MewThree (Azelf) @ Light Clay Trait: Levitate EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Taunt - Stealth Rock - Light Screen - Reflect My lead. Some games it leads off against stealth rockers, taunt them, sets up rocks, and dies. Other games, I need to set up a screen right away to survive their attack. Most of the time I get to set up rocks and screens before I die. This thing supports Dragonite very well, seeing as screens + Multiscale almost assuredly gives it two free DDs, and if I manage to taunt the opponent before I go down, I even get to prevent early status moves. Clamps (Cloyster) (F) @ Focus Sash Trait: Skill Link EVs: 14 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Shell Smash - Icicle Spear - Rock Blast - Razor Shell Allstar (though not actually a star). After a Shell Smash I get to outspeed and kill nearly anything. The multitype attacks allow it to break through Substitutes, and gives it a higher chance of dealing even more damage with crits (though the likelyhood of doing 2x damage is very small). Ice, Rock and Water make for a pretty perfect coverage. Jolly and 244 Spd to outspeed all those Scarf Terrakions I keep facing, which otherwise Stone Edge me to death. Chillin (Dragonite) (M) @ Lum Berry Trait: Multiscale EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Dragon Dance - Fire Punch - Outrage - ExtremeSpeed MVP of the team. Since I'm starting out, a lot of the people I face are inexperienced like myself, and in some games I just get to set up screens and rocks, let Azelf die, switch to this guy, DD up two or three times and just Outrage everything. Lum helps against status, obviously, as any status is annoying indeed. But if I don't get statused, it's just a free ticket to start Outraging again after the initial 2-3 turns of OHKOes are finished. E-speed against priority attacks, and Fire Punch against Steel types not called Heatran. Lumiere (Chandelure) (F) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Flash Fire EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Fire Blast - Shadow Ball - Energy Ball - Hidden Power [Fighting] This guy takes out opposing setup sweepers, and T-tars who think they can come in and pursuit trap it. Obviously requires a lot of prediction, but most of the time if it's early to mid game I can pick Energy Ball or HP Fighting and 2HKO pokes that thought they would be safe against his STABs. However if the opposing team doesn't have fire/shadow resists, I get to wreak havoc with it. Timid and Scarf means I don't really pack enough of a punch to OHKO many threats, so I rely on people switching something into its attacks, allowing me to kill with a second one. However, Chandelure's typing and ability often force switches, so the scenario happens often. Fire Blast used to be Overheat, but Overheat misses anyways and being able to keep Chandelure in and go for a second fire attack just as powerful as the first one is too valueble. See (Gyarados) (M) @ Lum Berry Trait: Moxie EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Dragon Dance - Frustration - Waterfall - Bounce This is the sea, as you can see! Bounce is an often unexpected move, OHKOing grass types who think they can safely switch in, resisting EQ and STAB Waterfalls. However I just get to Bounce up after DDing once or twice, and then they either have to sac it or risk the paralysis on another poke. Protect kind of makes this plan look silly, but at that point I can just start spamming Frustration until they die. Lum against status once again, since toxic, burn, paralysis and sleep are all equally crippling, turning Gyarados from a sweeper that takes down their entire team to a setup fodder for enemy sweepers or hazard casters. Moxie over Intimidate because I have screens up anyways and it makes sweeping that much easier. Wall (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sturdy EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd) - Spikes - Rapid Spin - Gyro Ball - Earthquake (0 Speed IVs) Sometimes your taunter dies and you need a spinner to clear the way! With so many pokes weak to Rocks I really did need a spinner, and Forretress fits the bill for having access to both Sturdy (guaranteed spin) and Gyro Ball (wrecking Gengar and some other spinblockers). That's at least the theory. In practice however, it's hard, nay, impossible, to keep spinning against Ferrothorn. Other pokemon I have been playing with in this spot are Aerodactyl (for taunt/SR), Genesect (threatening spinners out with powerful moves boosted by Expert Belt) and Scizor (with Bug Bite, Swords Dance, Roost to set up on Ferrothorn). Having played a fair amount of games with this team, this is the threat list that comes to mind: Threats - Rotom-Wash. This thing is just so annoying, and everyone seems to use him. It's easy to see why, he's unpredictable, he can mess you up with Will-o, Trick, or just Volt Switch out and move into their best option right away. I've also encountered a few with HP Ice to take out my Nite. Usually when I see him in the lead position, I use light screen to take less from the predicted Volt Switch or Hydro Pump, but I still get in trouble if it turns out to be Scarf or Specs. Mid to late game, it disregards Multiscale and recovers off damage with Pain Split, and its typing makes it very hard to kill. I get to Energy Ball it sometimes against unsuspecting opponents who just blindly click Hydro Pump against my Chandelure, and an Outrage from D-nite OHKOes it after I get my boosts in, but getting the boosts in the first place is hard when they have Will-O. - Mamoswine. My team has difficulty with priority attack in general (Scizor, Metagross, most fighting types) since I rely heavily on the Focus Sash on Cloyster, but this beast deserves special mention. They rarely start out with him so I can't Taunt him to prevent him from setting up rocks (I usually let Azelf die, and when I don't... I get one kill, they choose the Swine, I can't switch in and Taunt before he sets up rocks), and he's also too bulky to take out in one hit. So the rocks are pretty much there. He's the reason I picked Forretress - I can spin away the rocks and beat him up with Gyro Balls. His Ice Shard 2HKOes my Dragonite, or OHKO if it has any damage at all. A Cloyster at 1 hp that's been Shell Smashed up has no chance. Just all-around pain in the ass. - Weather. Hail and Sand break multiscale and focus sash, and make it way easier to revenge kill my setup sweepers, even with their speed boosts. And don't even get me started with rain stall. Occasionally I get to kill off Tentacruels and Jellicents and Politoeds in the rain, but these rain stall teams are just so streamlined and overused and proven to be the best team out there that it's just really demotivating to play against. Yeah I guess I should try out Clear Skies or whatever, but this meta seems to have all the players, and I don't feel like waiting 10 minutes for a match. - Terrakion. I've only seen them scarfed, but I see them often, especially on sand teams. They're too bulky to take out quickly, and they just OHKO all my attacking pokemon with Stone Edge, after sandstorm scrubs away their multiscale/sash protection. Forretress kinda takes him on, but he can't take that many his either, which is a problem when I need to switch him in to take a hit. I find myself having to choose between Rapid Spin and Gyro Ball too often. - Ferrothorn. This thing is just a monster. Survives +1 Fire Punch from D'nite and just Leech Seeds it, survives Icicle Spears, resists anything my Gyarados can do (it just Protects against Bounce) and trying to spin it is a joke since it sets up Rocks again just as easily while I take damage from Iron Barbs. Yes I get to send in Chandelure against it, but they just switch out. All-around pain. Import Clamps (Cloyster) (F) @ Focus Sash Trait: Skill Link EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Shell Smash - Icicle Spear - Rock Blast - Razor Shell Chillin (Dragonite) (M) @ Lum Berry Trait: Multiscale EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Dragon Dance - Fire Punch - Outrage - ExtremeSpeed Lumiere (Chandelure) (F) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Flash Fire EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Fire Blast - Shadow Ball - Energy Ball - Hidden Power [Fighting] See (Gyarados) (M) @ Lum Berry Trait: Moxie EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Dragon Dance - Frustration - Waterfall - Bounce MewThree (Azelf) @ Light Clay Trait: Levitate EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Taunt - Stealth Rock - Light Screen - Reflect Wall (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sturdy EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd) - Spikes - Rapid Spin - Gyro Ball - Earthquake Thanks for reading, and please help me improve this team! Also, this is my first post, please tell me if I did something wrong so I can fix it :)

Sep 28th, 2012, 8:59:32 AM	#3
Dr Ciel Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 681 Brooklyn, New York	Hey there. That's a pretty cool hyper offense team you got going on there. I have been a fan of hyper offense since gen 4 and thought I'd help you out. I have a few suggestions that you can try to help this team improve, so let's take a deeper look into this team, shall we? Okay, when I take a glance over this team, I notice that your team will struggle against teams with entry hazards, most notably Stealth Rock, as 4 Pokemon on your team take 25% of their health taken away every time they switch in, and even though you do have a rapid spinner in Forretress, when it goes down, you're in for a world of hurt. To help remedy this weakness, I suggest that you use a use a Choice Scarf Latios in place of your current Chandelure. Latios does a similar job as Chandelure in terms of revenge killing, and becomes one of the fastest in the tier, even outspeeding Scarf Terrakion, and can also revenge kill most of the tier with its amazing coverage. Moving on, I suggest that you change your Forretress to a Standard Spiker over your current set. With this set, Forretress can Rapid Spin hazards away easier while setting up some of its own hazards. Well, that's all I have to say for this team. I hope my suggestions helped just a bit. Have fun and good luck with your team! Sets Forretress @ Leftovers Lv. 100 -- Sturdy Nature: Relaxed - EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef Spikes Rapid Spin Gyro Ball Volt Switch Latios @ Choice Scarf Lv. 100 -- Levitate Nature: Timid - EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Draco Meteor Surf Psyshock Trick ~Dr Ciel~ __________________ PM or VM me for an OU rate!

Sep 28th, 2012, 8:21:42 AM	#2
helldog Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 23	Hey couple of suggestions: Why don't you make Cloyster a Naughty/Naive nature with hydro pump? Defensive steel types such as Magnezone, Skarmory, and Metagross won't get KOed by any of those moves even after a shell smash. So why don't you use a mixed set with hydro pump to take advantage of its lower SpDef? And since you have a sash anyway, a -SpDef nature won't hinder you in any way. Also, too bad Chandelure's probably going to get banned starting from next month. It might not, but it is likely so you might want to start searching for other pokes. And I don't know what exactly your looking for but seeing that Chandelure is your only special attacker, I think you should try out a special sweeper like Gengar. But again, I don't exactly know what your looking for so I can't suggest anything further than this. And one last thing. Although very rare this gen, Aerodactyls and Crobats can shut your azelf down with taunt, or any faster taunters. So I suggest you use an Espeon for your dual screen lead for 100% safety. With magic bounce, it will never get taunted and Espeon can also utilize its massive special attack when she needs to attack. And since you lost stealth rocks from azelf, replace earthquake for stealth rock on your Forretress. An unstabbed earthquake especially from Forretress's mediocre attack won't be doing too much anyway.