team no name

.::Introduction::.​

Hello Smogon regulars, I've been working on a team based on Mixed Virizion for a week or so now. I was inspired to use this idea by this post and while it hasn't been absolutely stellar, I can certainly say it isn't terrible.

I based this team around the style of bulky offense. The point is try to weaken the opponent's team with hazards and my other pokemon so Virizion can come in and clean up the rest of the team. With a life orb, Virizion has extremly powerful attacks and is capable of muscling through common attackers such as Breloom and Heatran.

I generally ladder around Mysidia abit and I was able to hit 1150 CRE within about 8 battles.


--------------------------
Team Building
--------------------------

First of all, the format I had in mind for my team was like this.

-Hazard Supporter
-Spin blocker
-Heavy bulky hitter
-Hazard Supporter/(Physical/Special) Wall
-Late game Cleaner
-Offensive sweeper with priority

And with that done, it's time to take a closer look at the team.

-----------------------------
In-Depth Look
-----------------------------
–
Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Toxic
.............
Description
Heatran starts off the team by setting up Stealth Rock at the beginning at the match. Stealth rocks is vital to this team, allowing Virizion, Scizor, and Reuniclus to nail some KOs they otherwise couldn't. Specially defensive Heatran has a few uses. Heatran helps absorb fire attacks and dishes back lava plumes which, while don't ohko, will hurt your pokemon and has a chance of burning. Toxic is used to cripple bulkier tanks, such as Ninetales and Politoed, while Roar is great for phazing and racking up Stealth Rock and spikes damage.

Heatran is also amazing for taking just about any sun threats in the metagame. He takes out Volcarona by using Roar so Volcarona will ac***ulate Stealth Rock damage. It's important to keep Heatran away from sand sweepers such as Excadrill and Landorus, especially considering that Heatran lacks an air balloon and doesn't invest in physical bulk. Heatran also works as a temporary check to Lati@s.


–
Virizion @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 192 Atk / 64 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Work Up
- Giga Drain
- Close Combat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
.............
Description
While at first it may seem gimmicky, this set isn't shabby at all. It forgoes Calm Mind's special defense boost so I can run the much more reliable Close Combat rather than Focus Miss. EVs may be a bit confusing; however, they allow me to OHKO Scizor with Close combat assuming there is 1 layer of spikes and Rocks on the field. Life orb is superior to Leftovers because Virizion lacks raw power, and Life Orb gives Virizion a ton of power. Giga Drain helps recover the lost health from Life orb as well as letting me beat bulky waters. Hidden Power[Ice] is pretty self explanatory; it lets me take out Dragonite, Salamence, and Gliscor.

This set struggles against Lati@s or any type of flying type pokemon that isnt weak to Hidden Power [Ice] (see: Skarmory). To solve this problem, I use a Scizor which has many opportunies to set up and helps Virizion weaken enemies with its priority. Scizor also lets me beat Gengar, which completely walls Virizion.

-
Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dragon Tail
- Waterfall
.............
Description
Gyarados has been doing amazing on this team. It serves as a counter to HP Ground Volcarona's, and can still take them on, even if they have hp rock. Dragon Tail allows me to phaze and rack up entry hazards damage. Waterfall is obligatory stab and hits fairly hard. Rest and sleep talk are obvious. They allow me to heal up, but I have to be wary when I use it if Rocks are up.

Gyarados is a great defensive pivot, especially if Skarmory has taken a lot of damage already. Intimidate really helps, especially with so many strong attackers, such as Excadrill.

-
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind
- Spikes
.............
Description
I've found Skarmory to be absolutely terrific for setting up spikes. This is the standard set for Skarmory and is simply outstanding. Skarm finds many opportunities to set up Spikes and is almost never unable to get at least 1 layer up. Roost provides reliable recovery, while Whirlwind is great for phazing. Brave Bird is so Skarmory isn't complete taunt bait and can hit fighters fairly hard.

Skarmory's main use is tanking strong dragon attacks and then proceeding to whirlwind them away. Strong pokemon like Conkeldurr are also handled by Skarmory.
-
Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Superpower
.............
Description
Tyranitar does his job, and he does it well. CB Tar has the raw power to 2hko even the sturdiest walls, such as Skarmory. Pursuit is useful for hitting running Lati@s and Espeon. Crunch provides a stronger stab and provides stronger stab without relying on Stone miss. Superpower is used over aqua tail because Gyarados already deals with Gliscor, Hippowdon, etc. Superpower also hits Ferro for a ohko iirc. Stone miss is an extremely strong stab that is used to break down common walls so Virizion can sweep.

The EVs maximize my attack and lets me take on Lati@s better. Other than that, this Tyranitar is pretty much standard.

-
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
.............
Description
Magnezone is an amazing threat in this steel infested metagame. He takes care of common threats, such as Ferrothorn and Scizor, who are on almost 1/2 of all the teams. Flash Cannon is important to hit SD Terrakion, and has a chance to OHKO it. Thunderbolt and Volt switch are both used for stab. Volt Switch helps to scout, while Thunderbolt is more reliable and hits bulky waters harder.

Hidden Power[Fire] is mainly for Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Forretress. Other than that, it usually doesnt have much use. However, it does hit grass types as well, but they aren't as common.

OFFENSIVE THREATS​

I'll definitely say this team isn't perfect, first of all. Magnezone can take out Skarmory and Gyarados without much trouble, and will severely dent my core. It can also scout with volt switch, which might be problematic., and my only answer is KOing with Tyranitar or Virizion.

Volcarona with Hidden Power [Ground] can be a problem but otherwise, special defense Heatran can counter it, so it's not so big of a problem. Gyarados also beats HP [Ground] variants.

Rain Hyper Offense can pretty much decimate me should Gyarados and Virizion faint. Considering that I don't have weather, I also have to be wary of sun and sand offense, although they aren't as much of a problem.

Thundurus is a problem. It's NP set can decimate just about every pokemon on my team except Magnezone. I also have no means of revenge killing it.

Excadrill can clean this team up if Skarmory is weakened enough. The set I'm thinking about is the Adamant LO variant. It deals massive damage and with a few lucky flinch hax, can beat Skarmory.

Venusaur can sweep me if it runs Mixsaur and has earthquake for Heatran. Otherwise, it's not much of a problem but it's still a notable threat.

Terrakion beats my team pretty badly and Skarmory doesn't like taking +2 Close Combat's. I can only hope that Virizion wins the speed tie and KO's with Close Combat.

DEFENSIVE THREATS​

Honestly, I don't find stall or defensive threats to be much problem. The only notable one is Dragonite, specifically the Parashuffler and Bulky DD. Even then, Dragonite isn't much of a problem, with Skarmory being able to phaze it out.

-------------------------------
Importable
-------------------------------
-------------------------------
Conclusion
-------------------------------
That's more or less the end of this RMT. Thanks for taking the time to read and have a nice day!

...Oh, one more thing.

RAINBOW​

Good job on the nice format, it's really eye-catching.
Running scald+will-o-wisp is contradictary, change scald to ice beam to take out those dumb dragons running around.
I suggest a posion heal gliscor over jirachi. Its a secondary check to excadrill.
Ill give u a set if you consider changes.

gl

Hello T.TNT. I love your formatting ;). Anyways, Double Dancing Terrakion can be a problem your team as you stated. I don't think banking on a speed tie is the right way to take it out, so I'm going to suggest using Slowbro over Reuniclus. | Slowbro @ Leftovers | Bold | 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd | Scald | Slack Off | Psychic | Toxic |. Slowbro is a great switch in to Terrakion/Excadrill and he synergyzes with you team perfectly as part of an extremely solid deffensive core of Slowbro + Jirachi.

With Slowbro around you'd have 2 bulky waters which isn't ideal. I suggest using Scarf Landorus over Jellicent. | Landorus @ Scarf | Naive | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd | Stone Miss | EQ | HP Ice | U-Turn. Scarf Landorus can pick off threats you identified like Volcarona, Dragonite, Magnezone and Venasaur. You may be hesitant to replace you spin blocker, but Jellicent just can't switch into common spinnners Excadrill/Starmie multiple times.

If you having trouble with HP Gound Volc and Excadrill you could use Air Balloon on Heatran. Heatan can basically check the afformentioned threats with it's balloon intact and you won't be missing the Leftovers recovery since you have Jirachi passing Wishes. I also recommend using Shed Shell on Skarmory. If Skarmory gets trapped, there's not much stopping those Dragon + Magnezone teams from running through your team. You also have Roost to make up for the loss of Lefties.

gl!

@KyogreBlue: After considering Brizznetz suggestions, I've replaced Jellicent for now.

@Brizznetz: I stole the format from you and just changed it up a little though :o
Thanks for the input though, I've tried all the suggestions except for Air balloon because Volcarona hasn't been too big of a problem yet.

though nasty plot thundurus has a hard time setting up on your team, once he gets a boost you could be in a lot of trouble. additionally, like you said, offensive rain could be a pretty big pain; jellicent deals with most rain pokemon nicely (as does virizion), but once those two are gone there isnt a lot stopping offensive rain teams from heavily damaging your team. a fairly simple fix to these problems would be to run a more unconventional offensive trick room reuniclus set instead of your current one. while theres nothing wrong with your set, i feel that otr reuniclus would be a better fit for your team, as it can act as a great stand alone sweeper, especially when backed up by spikes and stealth rock support. it also checks the aforementioned threats pretty nicely. try a set of:

reuniclus @ focus sash (ability: magic guard)
quiet nature | 192 HP | 64 Def | 252 SpA | 0 Spe IV
trick room | psychic | focus blast | shadow ball

what makes this set unique is focus sash, which will allow you to survive a +2 thundurus's life orb-boosted thunderbolt, use trick room, then KO the next turn with psychic after life orb recoil and stealth rock damage. i know it seems situational, but you dont really need the extra power life orb provides seeing as your team is already running spikes and stealth rock. just try this set out, i think you'll be pleased. it also checks rain sweepers well too (using a similar strategy)!

next up, consider some item changes. despite the fact that excadrill has a tough time getting a swords dance on any member of your team, once it gets a boost your in trouble. therefore, i think you should use an air balloon on heatran, as this would give you some insurance against the mole. also, seeing as skarmory is such a key member of your team, consider running shed shell. this will allow it to escape from magnezone, who would otherwise be able to switch in and completely shit on your spike-stacking fun.

hope i helped, and good luck with your team!

edit: haha i just noticed that brizznetz and i both suggested air balloon and shed shell. im not a copycat, i swear! :P

Alright, while I haven't switched the changes in the post yet, I plan on switching Jirachi for OTR Bronzong and seeing how that works. I'm probably keeping Slowbro. I also enjoy Scarf Landorus on my team.

@Snorlaxe: I really find it too situational to me and I think I'll be able to deal with Thundurus if I predict correctly.


Air balloon and shed shell changes have also been incorporated.

Double post but whatever, I want to say that I've adjusted the team a bit.

Slowbro really wasn't doing much at all, so I replaced him with Rest Talk Gyarados.

Heatran was replaced by Tyranitar, because rain is such a fucking bitch.

OTR Zong is still being tested over Jirachi, but I'm liking it.

Rotomw is a bitch to face though, considering all it does is spam volt switch >>

Changes are temporary and will be implemented shortly.

I would use life orb over leftovers on reuniclus to take advantage of magic guard as it gives an excellent boost to it's attacks that is often needed

T.TNT, you do realize that Reuniclus has Magic Guard, so essentially Focus Sash cannot be broken unless it gets hit? It doesn't sound too situational to me. Seeing how your team is slow, Trick Room wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Slowbro may be a great Terrakion and Excadrill counter, but that just compounded your weakness to Volcarona and Rain Sweepers. Gyarados is a good answer to Excadrill, but it's not the ideal mon to switch into STAB Water moves.

Gastrodon can certainly help against both Rain and Volcarona. Gastrodon is immune to Scald. It also has Clear Smog to negate any QD boosts that Volcarona has accumulated (watch out for Substitute variants, which blocks Clear Smog).

Can't really think of anything for Terrakion, but playing aggressively would help it from setting up :x

You can possibly try Scarf Magnezone. With Timid, it reaches 360 Spd, enough to be faster than Terrakion. It's Flash Cannon has 58% chance of an OHKO after SR. Under the Sandstorm Flash Cannon is doing ~62% so it would need to be softened up a bit. However, at least you are better equipped against Terrakion than you are now imo.

Scarf Zone can easily dispatch Skarmory and Forretress with Volt Switch and HP Fire, which would help your team, too, seeing how they have opportunities to come in set up Spikes / Rapid Spin. It would also prepare the stage for Virizion to sweep. It can also remove opposing Magnezone that plagues your Jirachi. Magnezone is a pretty good revenge killer to finish off Thundurus, if Gastrodon couldn't finish it.

I'd remove Heatran and replace Protect on Jirachi for SR. The one problem of removing Heatran, is that you lose some significant coverage against Drought Teams, so you may want to keep Balloon Heatran. If you go with OTR Reuniclus with Sash, though, it can possibly provide you the insurance to break Drought.

Hey, cool team, I've been using that Virizion set myself, and it is pretty good.

Double Booster Terrakion looks like it can give you some problems if it forces out Heatran and gets in a Swords Dance. Skarmory won't be able to stand up to +2 CC if it has taken prior damage. Two specific rain sweepers, LO Starmie and NP Thundurus also look problematic with the rain up, as the former can launch boosted Hydro Pumps, while Virzion and Jellicent are handled by its other moves. Thundurus (especially ones with Lum Berry) can force out Skarmory and get in a boost. Your best option is to paralyze it with Jirachi, but you will take a boatload of damage from boosted Thunder (the paralysis will be negated anyway with the aforementioned Lum).

I think the easiest way to solve all these issues is to try out a Choice Scarf on Jirachi. Terrakion (assuming it Swords Dances) is revenged killed by Iron Head (if it Rock Polishes, Skarmory will do fine), while you have a better way to take on Starmie and Thundurus in the rain with Thunder Punch and Ice Punch. You might be thinking this will hamper Jirachi's capability to take on Lati@s and CM Reuniclus with the drop in special bulk, thing is, Specs / LO Latios at -2 is set-up fodder for your own Reuniclus, and Jirachi can revenge it anyway. CM Latias and Reuniclus are crippled with Trick, foiling their attempts of a set-up sweep. (CM Latias is walled and crippled by Heatran anyway, and your own Reuniclus gives it a hard time with boosted Psyshock).

If for whatever reason you find CM Reuniclus too difficult to handle after this change, you can try Cursed Body on Jellicent as it will Taunt Reuniclus from further set-up, and the ability will prevent the use of the only move Reuniclus can use against Jellicent, Psychic. As for Trickroom Reuniclus, you can try Protect over Roar on Heatran to stall its Trickroom turns, and after some smart switching, you can switch to Jirachi on the last turn and cripple it with Trick or flinch it out with Iron Head. Additionally, you can give Jirachi a spread of 252 Atk / 152 SDef / 104 Spe and Jolly if you choose to go with the Choice Scarf change, as it will outspeed +1 positive base 80s, while having the bulk to take Focus Blasts from TR Reuniclus. Though you will need to keep Jirachi in a healthy state. If TR Reuniclus is unbearable even with these precautions, feel free to change back. Lastly, give Skarmory a Shed Shell to escape from Magnezone's clutches, else DragMag teams might pose a problem and go with a Hasty nature on Virzion; it doesn't take Physical attacks amazingly well anyway, so there's no point hindering its amazing Special Defense stat.
GL

As i saw that you posted a change to the team, i'll just help myself and the others by typing out your current team:
-Tyranitar
-Jirachi/Bronzong
-Restalk Gyarados
-Mixed Virizion
-Skarmory
-CM Reuniclus

Am i correct? If so, now i can give a rate. I agree with giving Reuniclus a TR set, as long as i doesn't affect Gyaras and most importantly Virizions sweeping capabilities. The set should be like this:

Reuniclus@Life Orb
Quiet (+Sp.Atk, -Spe), 252 HP/4 Def/252 Sp.Atk
-Trick Room
-Psychic
-Focus Blast
-Recover

This set takes advantage of Trick Room. Psychic and Focus Blast is your unresisted attacking combo and Recover is there just to recover. Life Orb gives you raw power without the recoil and the EVs and Nature are all meant to make you strong and fast in TR.
You can always consider making the set a bit more defensive, with Leftovers instead of LO and CM over Recover. You could also boost his Defense stat then.

I can't really say much more unless i know the specific roles of your pokes. Is it T-tar setting up the rocks or Bronzong? Fully Attacking T-tar or not? Support bronzong or attacking bronzong?

For T-tar i suggest you go for the fully offensive PHYSICAL set, to take advantage of the base 134 attack stat:
-Crunch/Pursuit
-Fire Punch
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge

i'm not gonna concentrate on the EVs and all, because im not a T-tar user, but i say an adamant nature with 252 attacking evs are standard.

Then for Bronzong, i like the Dual Screens set i used:

Bronzong@Light Clay
Sassy/Relaxed, 252 in the other Defensive stat/80 Atk/the rest in the first defensive stat.
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Stealth Rock
-Gyro Ball/EQ

The Dual Screen set worked fine for me when i used it, although i have no idea what you're seeking with Bronzong. Dual Screens makes Bronzong and the rest of the team more bulky, which could be handy anytime. SR is just for hazards and then the last attacking move to be able to dish out some damage and to not be total Taunt bait.

Well, that's all i think,
GL,
Cap'n

@Pocket: Scarf Magnezone has been a big help, thanks for suggesting that!
However, I feel after the changes I made, Gastrodon isn't needed to take on Volcarona.

@LK: I feel Scarf Magnezone has done a good enough job taking on Thundurus, and while I appreciate the help, I don't feel that Scarf Jirachi is necessary.

@Cap'n: CB Tar has been a great help, thanks for the suggestion. However, I've mostly replaced the other members already.

Again, I appreciate all of your help, it's really helped my team a bunch.

Your team is very weak to fighting. Something like a bulk up conkeldurr or DD scrafty will sweep you. You only resistance is gyarados and rapushin often carries stone edge.
You have 3 pokemon weak to fighting and skarmory is when he roosts. Also viridian is a crappy counter because it has awful physical defense! Add some psychic type. I know your gyarados has intimidate butbthink of this term. Sub puncher or multiple boosts really

@Regirock: I've been trying Mew over Heatran for a few hours now. It hasn't been bad, but I think there may be better choices.

Hey there. Cool team :] I have some suggestions that would make it even better though:

First off, switch to an Adamant nature on Tyranitar and shift 100 EVs from HP into Speed. This will not only let you outrun standard Jellicent and hit it before it can burn you, but also let you outrun standard 24 Speed Skarmory. This can be very beneficial, allowing you to get an easy 2HKO on Skarm with Stone Edge; opposed to having it Roost off the damage and make your previous hit worthless.

Now, a major problem to your team will powerful water attackers such as Choice Specs Politoed; defensive Rotom-W can become quite a problem too. With no rapid spinner, Gyarados cannot take these hits too well, Politoed getting an easy 2HKO with Hydro Pump; Virizion will be greatly damaged too. Defensive Rotom-W can burn Virizion and make it much less useful; burn + sandstorm + Life Orb will wear down your Virizion extremely easily, especially if the opponent has Spikes up. To fix these issues, I suggest replacing Virizion with a Nasty Plot Celebi.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 220 HP / 252 SAtk / 36 Speed
Modest Nature
- Recover
- Giga Drain
- Nasty Plot
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Unlike Virizion, Celebi has a reliable recovery move in Recover, and is not fearful of satus moves due to Natural Cure. Giga Drain + Hidden Power Fire provides great coverage; counters such as Heatran getting worn down by Dragon Tail / Whirlwind from Gyarados/Skarmory and entry hazards. Celebi can switch in to pokemon like Rotom-W with ease, and can become a major threat against rain teams.

Good luck.

T.TNT said:

@Pocket: Scarf Magnezone has been a big help, thanks for suggesting that!
However, I feel after the changes I made, Gastrodon isn't needed to take on Volcarona.

Click to expand...

I am glad that ScarfZone is working out for you! You may not need Gastrodon for Volcarona, but in the current state you have nothing to absorb powerful water moves.

You may want to try out CM Latias / Latios over Gyarados. After a CM, both of them should have no problem tanking Rain-boosted Water hits. Although you lose Intimidate, you still retain most of the resistances held by Gyarados, including Fighting and Ground.

CM | Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse | Surf | Recover

Magnezone comes in handy for dispatching Ferrothorn here.