My team at first glance~
Before you rate, please understand that this team DOES deviate quite from what is the "norm" on Smogon; I tend to be that way when making my teams. I already have given much thought to the team and have tested it in PO; it's not bad if used correctly, perhaps it's just my naïveté and this team is the best that it can get for a Mono-Poison being used outside Monotype. However, I don't think so hence the reason for me posting this. Furthermore, this team is meant for Pokemon Battle Revolution Wi-Fi more than anything else. Random Wi-Fi on PBR is only 3-on-3 Singles or 4-on-4 Doubles. You may notice the lack of entry hazards; the reason for that is the 3-on-3 battle style, however I still wish for it to function relatively well in 6-on-6. I just don't feel like wasting a moveslot for entry hazards if the style of play the team will MOSTLY be playing in has little use for it. EDIT: Also, they're no wildcards for a reason! I don't feel it is TRUE Monotype if ANY other Pokemon is placed in it without having the Team's typing.
Clauses this team follows:
Species Clause
Uber Clause (its OU so :l)
Sleep Clause
Item Clause (No, I'm not joking)
My Team
-----------------------------
Crobat (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 232 HP / 56 Def / 76 SDef / 144 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Super Fang
- Brave Bird
- Roost
Purpose: Stallbreaker/Lead: Crobat provides a decent lead-in due to its key traits. First off, its incredible speed will see it outpacing most leads, except namely Aerodactyl and other Crobat, which have the same base Speed Stat. Second, Inner Focus. Now for a fast poke like Crobat flinching isn't a problem unless paralyzed, but in a Lead position it helps with Infernape/Ambipom and other Fake Out users hoping to get a free hit in and possibly break a sash will actually have it backfire giving Crobat a free turn to attack or Taunt. Lastly, the combination of a strong STAB move, Super Fang, and reliable recovery allow Crobat to tear through certain walls and set-ups. This provides great use for Crobat outside the lead position. Due to this combination, I removed U-turn, as it did not seem to helpful only causing minimal damage for a fast switch-out which can be done without it anyway. The item Black Sludge acts as a 2nd Leftovers while obeying the item clause and also will be an unpleasant surprise to any Trick Leads wishing to pass Crobat a Choice item. Also, it is of no threat to my team as if they decide to Trick it back, it is simply Leftovers to any of the members of my team. A nice touch. ^^
Tentacruel (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Rest
- Mirror Coat
Purpose: Weak Special Wall/Sweeper- Tentacruel was placed as a much needed Fire (Heatran especially) check to the team. Hydro Pump and Sludge Bomb allow her to hit hard even off a base 80 Sp. Atk, whilst using STAB and decent coverage. Not to mention the Poison chance that may lead into a Rest Stall. Mirror Coat, although strange is mainly for her counters that try to take it out with a powerful Special Attack can be reflected to take out threats. i.e. Bulky Zapdos is unable to OHKO with Thunderbolt and ends up being OHKOed itself from Mirror Coat. Yes, it is risky, but it gives a nice heavy return. Also, it isn't seen coming as common metagame Tentacruel don't wield Mirror Coat. ChestoRest is there to assure Tentacruel can keep functioning after a Mirror Coat use, to either pursue attacking or for another potential Mirror Coat. Liquid Ooze for the annoying Pokemon who want to seed her to death, they will receive the wrath of draining from the Poisons. That and Clear Body is virtually useless since stat-lowering moves outside Intimidate are virtually non-existent.
Gengar (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Pain Split (not set in stone)
-Purpose: Special Sweeper with Subs: Poison, being a defensive type, needed to have some raw power in it as well, and this set works well for the team. Gengar provides Levitate which can allow him switch in on the opponents EQ, hopefully entice a switch in so he can prepare a Substitute and then pick his poison on how to deal with the incoming Pokemon. Pain Split is there for when Life Orb and Sub damage become high so she can leech more health for her attacks and Subs. However, Pain Split could be removed if another move becomes more appealing as Gengar generally has trouble setting up multiple Subs without them being taken down. Though tough to switch in on, Psychics can be taken out by his Shadow Ball, or made to switch for an easy setup. Focus Blast is there over Hidden Power [Fighting] due to the need for power, sure Focus Blast will fail 30% of the time, but to me that's much better than Hidden Power [Fighting] failing 100% of the time due to lack of brute force. Ghost/Fighting provides irrc perfect coverage hitting at least neutral on every Pokemon. In addition, Focus Blast works well at taking down Steels that are immune to the Team's overall STAB and the Dark Pokemon sent in to take out Gengar. Main problem with Gengar is when a faster Pursuit Pokemon (i.e. Weavile) comes in on it when a Sub isn't out; she's going down. Even if the Pursuit Pokemon isn't faster, if Gengar fails to OHKO it, she'll fall.
Drapion (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sniper
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Night Slash
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
Purpose: Absorbing Psychic Attacks/Pursuit Trapping Sweeper: I listened to the input I received and pulled out Drapion once more with a different set. This time I went for more "coming out firing on all cylinders" approach. Drapion can come in on the bait that is the rest of my team to absorb Psychic and if it is a frail Psychic-type, proceed to Pursuit and take it out efficiently allowing the rest of the team to battle safely. Night Slash was placed as the alternative for more powerful Psychic users as well as a nice STAB attack that more efficiently uses the Sniper ability unlike Crunch. Earthquake is for the Metagrosses/Jirachis that are dancing around OU that can carry Psychic moves (generally Jirachi) and hopefully defeat them, while providing nice coverage. Ice Fang felt more filler than anything, I may replace it with Cross Poison for additional STAB with a high-crit rate, but its purpose was for the Dragons and Gliscor that are in OU as well as Grass-types.
Nidoking (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Rivalry
EVs: 56 Atk / 200 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Sucker Punch
Purpose: Coverage Sweeper- This set comes off quite strange with its use of Rivalry, however most Pokemon are male or genderless, and this provides great extra power due to the lack of Life Orb as well as an unknown surprise factor because Poison Point is the standard. Expert Belt serves as a needed power boost to its Super-Effective attacks that tend to happen with such good coverage as this Nidoking has. It has the infamous BoltBeam combo as well as a powerful STAB Earthquake which will ensure it hitting that Super-Effective mark quite often. Lastly, Sucker Punch is useful as it isn't standard on Nidoking giving an additional surprise factor along with Rivalry as well as helping deal with Psychics, and as a finishing priority move.
Weezing (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Haze
Purpose: Physical Wall- Weezing serves as a great check to Physical attackers as well as being immune to Ground attacks. With Fire Blast and Thunderbolt for coverage it can deal some decent damage off a rather mediocre Special Attack stat. Will-O-Wisp is the reason why Weezing is infamous for crippling Physical Attackers and is an obvious choice. Finally, Haze to be used on those pesky Pokemon that Rest off burn and continue to set up, and as a general walling tool as well. Pain Split/Explosion used to be in that moveslot, but I found Weezing being taken out before ever using it.
There. I believe I followed all of the RMT rules well. I'm new to the forums, but have been battling competitively for quite some time. This is also my first post, so hopefully nothing is messed up. Please offer some constructive criticism to team! Thank you all in advance. And sorry for any grammatical errors ><, I typed this up as a train of thought and didn't go back and read over it like a term paper, mostly cause I find it awkward for some reason :/. So yeah, I fail with punctuation...and shtuff.
THANKS AGAIN! ^^
Before you rate, please understand that this team DOES deviate quite from what is the "norm" on Smogon; I tend to be that way when making my teams. I already have given much thought to the team and have tested it in PO; it's not bad if used correctly, perhaps it's just my naïveté and this team is the best that it can get for a Mono-Poison being used outside Monotype. However, I don't think so hence the reason for me posting this. Furthermore, this team is meant for Pokemon Battle Revolution Wi-Fi more than anything else. Random Wi-Fi on PBR is only 3-on-3 Singles or 4-on-4 Doubles. You may notice the lack of entry hazards; the reason for that is the 3-on-3 battle style, however I still wish for it to function relatively well in 6-on-6. I just don't feel like wasting a moveslot for entry hazards if the style of play the team will MOSTLY be playing in has little use for it. EDIT: Also, they're no wildcards for a reason! I don't feel it is TRUE Monotype if ANY other Pokemon is placed in it without having the Team's typing.
Clauses this team follows:
Species Clause
Uber Clause (its OU so :l)
Sleep Clause
Item Clause (No, I'm not joking)
My Team
-----------------------------
Crobat (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 232 HP / 56 Def / 76 SDef / 144 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Super Fang
- Brave Bird
- Roost
Purpose: Stallbreaker/Lead: Crobat provides a decent lead-in due to its key traits. First off, its incredible speed will see it outpacing most leads, except namely Aerodactyl and other Crobat, which have the same base Speed Stat. Second, Inner Focus. Now for a fast poke like Crobat flinching isn't a problem unless paralyzed, but in a Lead position it helps with Infernape/Ambipom and other Fake Out users hoping to get a free hit in and possibly break a sash will actually have it backfire giving Crobat a free turn to attack or Taunt. Lastly, the combination of a strong STAB move, Super Fang, and reliable recovery allow Crobat to tear through certain walls and set-ups. This provides great use for Crobat outside the lead position. Due to this combination, I removed U-turn, as it did not seem to helpful only causing minimal damage for a fast switch-out which can be done without it anyway. The item Black Sludge acts as a 2nd Leftovers while obeying the item clause and also will be an unpleasant surprise to any Trick Leads wishing to pass Crobat a Choice item. Also, it is of no threat to my team as if they decide to Trick it back, it is simply Leftovers to any of the members of my team. A nice touch. ^^
Tentacruel (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Rest
- Mirror Coat
Purpose: Weak Special Wall/Sweeper- Tentacruel was placed as a much needed Fire (Heatran especially) check to the team. Hydro Pump and Sludge Bomb allow her to hit hard even off a base 80 Sp. Atk, whilst using STAB and decent coverage. Not to mention the Poison chance that may lead into a Rest Stall. Mirror Coat, although strange is mainly for her counters that try to take it out with a powerful Special Attack can be reflected to take out threats. i.e. Bulky Zapdos is unable to OHKO with Thunderbolt and ends up being OHKOed itself from Mirror Coat. Yes, it is risky, but it gives a nice heavy return. Also, it isn't seen coming as common metagame Tentacruel don't wield Mirror Coat. ChestoRest is there to assure Tentacruel can keep functioning after a Mirror Coat use, to either pursue attacking or for another potential Mirror Coat. Liquid Ooze for the annoying Pokemon who want to seed her to death, they will receive the wrath of draining from the Poisons. That and Clear Body is virtually useless since stat-lowering moves outside Intimidate are virtually non-existent.
Gengar (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Pain Split (not set in stone)
-Purpose: Special Sweeper with Subs: Poison, being a defensive type, needed to have some raw power in it as well, and this set works well for the team. Gengar provides Levitate which can allow him switch in on the opponents EQ, hopefully entice a switch in so he can prepare a Substitute and then pick his poison on how to deal with the incoming Pokemon. Pain Split is there for when Life Orb and Sub damage become high so she can leech more health for her attacks and Subs. However, Pain Split could be removed if another move becomes more appealing as Gengar generally has trouble setting up multiple Subs without them being taken down. Though tough to switch in on, Psychics can be taken out by his Shadow Ball, or made to switch for an easy setup. Focus Blast is there over Hidden Power [Fighting] due to the need for power, sure Focus Blast will fail 30% of the time, but to me that's much better than Hidden Power [Fighting] failing 100% of the time due to lack of brute force. Ghost/Fighting provides irrc perfect coverage hitting at least neutral on every Pokemon. In addition, Focus Blast works well at taking down Steels that are immune to the Team's overall STAB and the Dark Pokemon sent in to take out Gengar. Main problem with Gengar is when a faster Pursuit Pokemon (i.e. Weavile) comes in on it when a Sub isn't out; she's going down. Even if the Pursuit Pokemon isn't faster, if Gengar fails to OHKO it, she'll fall.
Drapion (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sniper
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Night Slash
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
Purpose: Absorbing Psychic Attacks/Pursuit Trapping Sweeper: I listened to the input I received and pulled out Drapion once more with a different set. This time I went for more "coming out firing on all cylinders" approach. Drapion can come in on the bait that is the rest of my team to absorb Psychic and if it is a frail Psychic-type, proceed to Pursuit and take it out efficiently allowing the rest of the team to battle safely. Night Slash was placed as the alternative for more powerful Psychic users as well as a nice STAB attack that more efficiently uses the Sniper ability unlike Crunch. Earthquake is for the Metagrosses/Jirachis that are dancing around OU that can carry Psychic moves (generally Jirachi) and hopefully defeat them, while providing nice coverage. Ice Fang felt more filler than anything, I may replace it with Cross Poison for additional STAB with a high-crit rate, but its purpose was for the Dragons and Gliscor that are in OU as well as Grass-types.
Nidoking (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Rivalry
EVs: 56 Atk / 200 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Sucker Punch
Purpose: Coverage Sweeper- This set comes off quite strange with its use of Rivalry, however most Pokemon are male or genderless, and this provides great extra power due to the lack of Life Orb as well as an unknown surprise factor because Poison Point is the standard. Expert Belt serves as a needed power boost to its Super-Effective attacks that tend to happen with such good coverage as this Nidoking has. It has the infamous BoltBeam combo as well as a powerful STAB Earthquake which will ensure it hitting that Super-Effective mark quite often. Lastly, Sucker Punch is useful as it isn't standard on Nidoking giving an additional surprise factor along with Rivalry as well as helping deal with Psychics, and as a finishing priority move.
Weezing (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Haze
Purpose: Physical Wall- Weezing serves as a great check to Physical attackers as well as being immune to Ground attacks. With Fire Blast and Thunderbolt for coverage it can deal some decent damage off a rather mediocre Special Attack stat. Will-O-Wisp is the reason why Weezing is infamous for crippling Physical Attackers and is an obvious choice. Finally, Haze to be used on those pesky Pokemon that Rest off burn and continue to set up, and as a general walling tool as well. Pain Split/Explosion used to be in that moveslot, but I found Weezing being taken out before ever using it.
There. I believe I followed all of the RMT rules well. I'm new to the forums, but have been battling competitively for quite some time. This is also my first post, so hopefully nothing is messed up. Please offer some constructive criticism to team! Thank you all in advance. And sorry for any grammatical errors ><, I typed this up as a train of thought and didn't go back and read over it like a term paper, mostly cause I find it awkward for some reason :/. So yeah, I fail with punctuation...and shtuff.
THANKS AGAIN! ^^