Into the Magma [OU RMT]

- Introduction -

It’s about a year since I played Pokemon the last time. I was doing some file cleaning yesterday, when I found my old Pokemon folder, where I keep all my teams and logs. I opened Shoddy Battle with my old account and I started playing with my old, dear team… but I wanted to try something new. That’s why I immediately opened the Team Builder and started thinking. Thinking… thinking… and finally the inspiration came! In my "Shoddy Battler Career" I tried all kind of Heatran: Specser, Scarfer, Subber, Trapper... The only one that I had never tried was the famous Tormentran. So, I decided to build a team that turns around him, and I think it's not so bad, I have to refine something and I hope you can help me. Let’s start!

(Changes will be bolded)

At the glance...

...In detail!




Roserade @ Focus Sash ** Lesbian Plant
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Leaf Storm
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Fire]

I decided that the first thing I have to do in every match should’ve been getting the Toxic Spikes. Roserade often manages to get two layers of Toxic Spikes and, if everything goes right, she can send a Pokemon to sleep. There are three reasons that suggested me to choose Roserade as lead:
-Average-high speed: 90 base speed are not amazing, but they’re enough to outspeed all the bulky-leads and send them to sleep.
-Great offensive: 125 base spatk + STAB Leaf Storm are really good for a lead! These two things, combined with the decent speed, allow Roserade to be useful in the midgame too, if she survives.
-Sleep Powder: oh, I love sleep moves <3 They’re the best moves ever, since they make useless a Pokemon unless it’s a Sleep Talker. I know that the accuracy is not 100, but I have to take some risk :P
But there are leads that are in advantage against Roserade. Infernape, Lum Berry Machamp, Lum Berry Metagross are the most common. That’s why I chose as Roserade’s teammates Pokemons that can easily switch on each of them, support Heatran and be in synergy with the rest of the team.



Gyarados @ Leftovers ** Gayrados
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP/244 Def/16 Spd
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Roar
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Waterfall

Standard Rest-talk Gyarados. I previously mentioned Infernape, Metagross and Machamp… well, Gyarados can stop them without too many problems =) 393 HP (which allows him to switch in 5 times with the Stealth Rocks) + 255 Def + 259 SDef + Intimidate… I think it’s not easy to take down this monster without super effective moves. It’s useless to say how much the entry hazards can be destructive with this set: thanks to Rest + Sleep this Gyarados has an enormous staying power, which combined with Roar will make my opponent reeeeally angry! This thing can counter a huge amount of special and physical threaths (such as Lucario, Heatran, Infernape, Gliscor). I just would like to have more offensiveness, but I couldn’t find a Pokemon that meets my requirements. :/



Rotom-w @ Choice Scarf ** Washing-Machine
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
- Trick

The most important reason that convinced me to use Rotom-w is Trick. Trick is an excellent move in a team like this: Blissey is such a nightmare for Tormentran, but I don’t think she could do the same work with a Choice Scarf. And Blissey is a common switch-in against a Choice Specs Rotom. Maybe I should put WoW in the moveset, but I really don’t know what to change: the three offensive moves are absolutely fantastic. WoW will get Scizor, Tyranitar and other Pursuit users absolutely harmless. Any suggestion? Oh, and Heatran is also helped by the fact that some Pursuit user will certainly be locked into that move to kill the washing-machine, I think. Also, Heatran is a common switch in against choice Rotom if you predict WoW or Shadow Ball, so taking them down with Hydro Pump would be a nice thing for my Heatran.
It’s not so common to see a so-special-defense-based Rotom, I guess: the EV spread allows me to avoid the 2HKO by Timid Starmie’s Life Orb’d Surf (I HATE that Starmie >_<), since I don’t have any REAL counter for that thing. But thanks to his resistances and immunities, Rotom is quite strong on the physical side too, even though I gave him only 40 EVs. Oh, and obviously Rotom is here to avoid the opponent’s spin too: I can’t let him wipe out my spikes =)



Forretress @ Leftovers ** Spinball
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/40 Def/216 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Payback
- Spikes

I usually don't like using Forretress, but I couldn't find a Pokémon that could do this work bettere than him. Forretress, with his precious resistances, has always the opportunity to set-up my entry hazards, and sometimes he can spin away the opponent's ones, too. I preferred him to Skarmory because of the electric neutrality and the single weakness. I was temptated to put Explosion, but Payback is TOO useful and I can't stay without it.
Like Rotom, I decided to put a lot of EVs in Special Defense to have some more surviving possibility to monsters like Gengar and Starmie, and then kill them with Payback. Without any Special Defense EV, Forretress is 2HKOed by max spatk Starmie's Surf (without Life Orb) and OHKOed by Life Orb Hydro Pump (with the Stealth Rock); with this set none of those two things is possible. Yeah, I'm obsessed by Starmie :( Anyways, it is easy to understand how much Spikes and Stealth can help this kind of team, because my opponent will probably be forced to switch a lot of times.



Flygon @ Life Orb ** Dragonfly
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 116 Atk/176 Spd/218 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast

Flygon. I LOVE FLYGON. Especially with this set, that nobody uses. It's incredible how many Pokémon I can kill in a match with this dragon. And It's incredible how many people are sure that every Flygon is a Scarf Flygon. 176 Speed EV + Naive nature to outspeed all the neutral-natured base 100 and all the positive-natured base 90 pokemons; the remaining EVs are shared between the attacks. 100 base atk and 80 base spatk are not the best stats you could ask for, but, if combined with the fantastic STAB he can get and Life Orb, they are enough to do a large amount of damage to any entering Pokemon. Plus, the great and useful resistances, the immunity to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, the resistance to Stealth Rock, the ability to use Roost and the decent defenses give him an enviable staying power for a sweeper. Also, this set should cause a good number of switches (many people try to counter the dragon with a switch series), and that's another helpful thing for me.



Heatran @ Leftovers ** Magmaspider
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 244 HP/220 Spd/32 SAtk/12 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Protect
- Substitute
- Torment

Here's the star =) I had never tried Tormentran before, and I've realized that.. I love him! After the opponent's team will be weakened and poisoned by my entry hazards, just send Heatran on something that can't touch him, sub on the switch, use Torment, Protect on the move that can break your sub and then attack with Lava Pl... oh wait, you all know how Tormentran works I guess.. So, you all know how he can be destructive with the right support. The EV spread is standard (I don't know how I could change..), so I'll just report the Smogon's explanation:

The HP EVs allow Heatran to hit its highest Leftovers number, which is very important, considering he will be seeing a lot of Leftovers recovery with this set. The Speed EVs bring Heatran to 245 Speed, which allows him to outspeed Zapdos and Celebi at 244 Speed. Getting a Substitute up before being hit by Thunder Wave is very important for this set. The Special Defense EVs allow Heatran to take 24% max from a neutral natured, 0 Special Attack Rotom-A's Discharge, meaning they will never break his Substitute. This is important because Heatran really doesn't want to get randomly paralyzed from Discharge. The Special Attack EVs ensure that Heatran does a minimum of 33% to max HP Machamp, meaning that the Rest + Sleep Talk sets will be 3HKOed. Heatran also doesn't have to worry about DynamicPunch thanks to Torment. Heatran always 3HKOs bulky Rotom-A, so not even the Rest + Sleep Talk versions can stop him.

Click to expand...

Well, thanks for reading and, if you want, please suggest me something to make better this team =)

My biggest concern is your lack of a revenge killer. You should probably use a choice scarf on rotom to revenge +1 gyrados and dragonite. This will also help you with gengar, infernape, and other fast sweepers. Or you could use cs flygon, its up to you (but then you struggle with stall).

Hey,

Really good team, and great presentation. The lack of a revenge killer gives you a few problems, specifically DD Gyarados and especially Infernape. Giving Rotom a Choice Specs without any investment in Special Attack means that it doesn't have a great deal of power. Choice Scarf seems like the best option. Hydro Pump seems like the best option for the last slot, mainly to hit T-tar for solid damage.

DD Tar can be an issue if your Gyara is KOed with rocks, but you can always play around it with some smart switching, i.e. Gyara on the DD and Flygon in the Stone Edge. DDnite also gives this team a few issues. Actually, why not just go 252/252 Impish on Gyara, the extra defense really helps as you rely on it to counter a lot of threats. Rotom destroys Nape with Hydro Pump anyway, so it's not too much of a problem.

Great team, and gl!

Mmm, I think you are right: I'll surely put Choice Scarf instead of Choice Specs, but I prefer using LOFlygon. Tyranitar has never given me too many problems thanks to Gyara + Flygon, yeah; I'll try with Impish Gyarados, too. Thank you guys =)

Hey, nice team. You said that you wanted a pokemon that could counter threats such as Heatran, Lucario, Infernape and Gliscor. LO Aerodactyl checks all of these threats and breaks stall with Taunt and Roost. Check it out in smogon.com/dp/pokemon/aerodactyl. I use him on my team and it's great! I suggest you replace it for Gyarados. Good luck with the team!

Well I think Aerodactyl is not exactly what I was searching for o_o... Too many heavy weaknesses, no Fight resistance (I absolutely need it), and not great defenses. Thank you anyway. I was, instead, thinking about something like this:
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Pressure
248 HP/228 Defense/32 Speed
Bold nature
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Roar
- Heat Wave / Hidden Power [ice]
I'll lost Intimidate, but I will get another help with bulky waters instead of bulky grounds. Also, Zapdos would take a great advantage if Rotom manages to trick his Choice Scarf to Blissey. I don't know... any suggestion?

Yeh that sounds quite good as Zapdos only has 2 weaknesses and it can effectively wall fighting types. Tricking the scarf onto Blissey helps but it will still wall you. If you put a strong pursuit user onto your team such as Scizor or Tyranitar you can easily eleminate Blissey
clearing the way for Zapdos to sweep. Maybe change
Flygon or Rotom-W for a Tyranitar with this:
Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Jolly
4HP/252Atk/252Spe
~Stone Edge
~Crunch
~Pursuit
~Earthquake/Superpower

Superpower would probably be more useful for you as it destroys Blissey but Earthquake is still a good option and it provides excellent coverage with Stone Edge.

Good luck!

Actually, the Sandstorm would really help Heatran. But I don't know if I can lose a ground immunity (and get a ground weakness!) :/