A Musiqual Team
Introduction
Introduction
Hello! This has been a very successful team for me. I don't have a huge desire to be top of the leaderboard, but I have definitely wanted to be at a 'decent' level. I made this team with the expectation/hope of staying around 1300 on Shoddy, and I got to about 1450 very quickly. Since I am very happy with the teams success, I thought I would post it in an RMT!
I started the team with Dragonite. I wanted a team based around MixNite, that would get good use out of him. It was then that I decided to have a strongly specially based team. I thought if I had a lot of pokemon that hit on the special side, I would bring out their special sponge quickly (namely Blissey, Snorlax, and even Metagross) and then destroy them with Dragonite. That way, Dragonite can deal heavy damage to the rest of their team with the same going for the rest of my Pokemon. There is no inteded late game sweeper on this team. I will note that Starmie and Heatran do often finish the game for me though.
On with the team!
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
- Grass Knot
I had a lot of options for leads, and when I came to this one fitting in the spot of my team I was very hesistant at first, but I am so glad I made this choice. Starmie gets OHKO's on many common leads (Infernape, Swampert, Heatran) and scores a 2HKO on all the standard leads that it doesn't OHKO. The best part about this set however is running Rapid Spin. Starmie KO's the leads that set up the rocks, and then spins away their rocks once their gone (or in the case of frail Focus Sash leads like Infernape and Azelf, I get them to 1% as they set up rocks, and then spin away the rocks and KO them for the last 1%.) Starmie does an exellent job of keeping rocks off the field for my team, which often decides games.
Thanks to holding a Life Orb and having great coverage between Hydro Pump / Ice Beam / Grass Knot, Starmie often comes back around again later in the game (most leads don't get a chance to damage her) and acts as a revenge killer and late game sweeper. She's an extra check against things like CB Flygon and Mixmence (most mences don't seem to think I'm carrying Ice Beam, which is great.)
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers ***Skills
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/6 Atk/252 Def
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
Swampert is a Boss. I find it hard to make a team without this guy; he is just so reliable. He almost always gets rocks down, phazes boosting sweepers (and stupid Baton Pass teams that don't use Smeargle), and provides great coverage that is hard to switch into. He is my DD mence counter (Swampert is NEVER OHKO'd by a +1 Outrage if I am at full HP, barring critical hits :[ ), my initial switch to Tyranitar, and my Thunder Wave absorber, among other things. He is also my teams greatly needed Rock Resistance. Swampert is a real team player.
On a side note, he is nicknamed Skills because he gets Freezes with Ice Beam in all the best times. Notable freezes include one on an Empoleon that probably would have swept my team, and another on a Choice Scarfed HP Grass Magnezone.
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/6 Atk/252 Def
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
Swampert is a Boss. I find it hard to make a team without this guy; he is just so reliable. He almost always gets rocks down, phazes boosting sweepers (and stupid Baton Pass teams that don't use Smeargle), and provides great coverage that is hard to switch into. He is my DD mence counter (Swampert is NEVER OHKO'd by a +1 Outrage if I am at full HP, barring critical hits :[ ), my initial switch to Tyranitar, and my Thunder Wave absorber, among other things. He is also my teams greatly needed Rock Resistance. Swampert is a real team player.
On a side note, he is nicknamed Skills because he gets Freezes with Ice Beam in all the best times. Notable freezes include one on an Empoleon that probably would have swept my team, and another on a Choice Scarfed HP Grass Magnezone.
Dragonite (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 112 Atk/200 Spd/196 SAtk
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Superpower
- Flamethrower
Mixnite is a powerful pokemon that almost always gets rid of 1-2 pokemon, assuming he doesn't die to a mispredicted switch in or a very unlucky crit. Dragonite rarely sweeps, but thats not what he's here for. His role is to take out the bulky pokemon so that the other pokemon on my team can have a field day. If Dragonite takes out the other teams special absorber (Blissey, Snorlax, and/or occasionally Metagross on more offensive teams), I consider his job done. Thankfully, Dragonite usually takes out a few more or greatly damages other pokemon by virtue of having Draco Meteor. With help from Starmie, Dragonite also usually enters a rockless field, and his bulk takes much more effect.
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SAtk/4 Def
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Substitute
- Toxic
SubTran works so well for this team. He works very similarly to Dragonite; Dragonite brings in special sponges to take his powerful Draco Meteors, but is capable of killing said Pokemon with Superpower and Flamethrower. SubTran brings in pokemon that are not immune to Toxic and don't want to take a Toxic, and hits them with a Toxic. This works great, as Heatran can usually weaken bulkier Pokemon through Toxic or even Fire Blast to ensure that they're taken out by Dragonite or one of my fast Pokemon late game. Heatran is also my switch into most Rotom forms, something this team really needed and appreciates. If Heatran gets a Substitute up, it can often mean the game for the opponent if their team is weakened and/or Heatran's counters are gone. Heatran and Dragonite go hand-in-hand on this team.
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SAtk/4 Def
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Substitute
- Toxic
SubTran works so well for this team. He works very similarly to Dragonite; Dragonite brings in special sponges to take his powerful Draco Meteors, but is capable of killing said Pokemon with Superpower and Flamethrower. SubTran brings in pokemon that are not immune to Toxic and don't want to take a Toxic, and hits them with a Toxic. This works great, as Heatran can usually weaken bulkier Pokemon through Toxic or even Fire Blast to ensure that they're taken out by Dragonite or one of my fast Pokemon late game. Heatran is also my switch into most Rotom forms, something this team really needed and appreciates. If Heatran gets a Substitute up, it can often mean the game for the opponent if their team is weakened and/or Heatran's counters are gone. Heatran and Dragonite go hand-in-hand on this team.
Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
I needed a Ghost pokemon, a Gyarados check, a Lucario check, and another special attacker, so guess who I put on the team? Keeping Rotom alive ensures that Lucario and Gyarados can't go to town on my team (less so with Gyarados though.) Rotom is also a third user of a powerful Fire move on my team, which really puts pressure on Steels (once again, to hit more things with Draco Meteor). Rotom is an extra check to Scizor (though my team didn't really need anymore) and also an extra check to Blissey and other defensive Pokemon with Trick, should Dragonite or Scizor fail to do the job. Like Starmie and Heatran, Rotom is a wonderful revenge killer and late game sweeper.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 160 HP/176 Atk/4 Spd/168 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
The last member of my team who has one very important role: Kill Latias. The EV's allow me to survive two Draco Meteor's, and still KO with Pursuit. Scizor also adds a very important priority move, to make sure that I'm not dominated by things like Azelf, Gengar, DD Tar's, and Salamence (though it is preferred that the latter two are weakened.) Scizor can also take out Blissey, should Dragonite not get his job done. While it is not preferred, Scizor can also take other special hits, but the main ones I want/need him to take are Draco Meteor's.
Ability: Technician
EVs: 160 HP/176 Atk/4 Spd/168 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
The last member of my team who has one very important role: Kill Latias. The EV's allow me to survive two Draco Meteor's, and still KO with Pursuit. Scizor also adds a very important priority move, to make sure that I'm not dominated by things like Azelf, Gengar, DD Tar's, and Salamence (though it is preferred that the latter two are weakened.) Scizor can also take out Blissey, should Dragonite not get his job done. While it is not preferred, Scizor can also take other special hits, but the main ones I want/need him to take are Draco Meteor's.
Threat List
Easy Threat
Difficult Threat
Very Difficult Threat
Aerodactyl: Starmie wins against leads. Swampert and Scizor don't mind any that are late game sweepers.
Alakazam: While Scizor might take some damage while switching in, bullet punch OHKO's. Heatran also doesn't mind taking unboosted Psychics.
Azelf: Azelf leads lose to Starmie, and any late game sweepers are usually stopped by Scizor. Thank God no one uses Azelf anymore.
Breloom: While Breloom itself is not actually hard to take down (usually done by Rotom), Spore is a very deadly move to my team. Status in general is not good for me, and Sleep is the hardest to deal with.
Dragonite: MixNite actually does a number on my team. Heatran and Swampert are good switch in's, but they probably won't come out in as good of health as they came in.
Dugtrio: Not even OU anymore. Heatran is the only Pokemon on my team that has trouble with this guy, but good luck switching it in (especially if I'm behind a sub).
Electivire: Without HP Grass, Electivre can only dream of breaking my Swampert. If it has HP Grass, it basically gives Dragonite a free switch in.
Empoleon: Probably the games best late game sweeper, and for a reason. If if has Ice Beam, Swampert can come and stop a sweep so long as it isn't behind a Sub. If it has Grass Knot, Dragonite can do the same.
Flygon: Swampert can switch in, but does not like repeated hits. A banded one is more dangerous to Swampert, but a Scarfed one is more dangerous to the rest of my team. Starmie can revenge kill non Scarfed ones.
Gengar: Gengar will always be a tricky Pokemon. Sub sets can be very difficult. Thanks to its frailty, it usually dies to random hits. It usually has a hard time switching in as well given my heavily special team (only one EQ for it to jump in on.)
Gyarados: Really not a big deal. Rotom makes sure it doens't destroy me after a DD, but even then Swampert can Roar him away and it will die to SR.
Heatran: Not too difficult. Swampert can freely come in on non-sub sets and non-HP Grass sets. If it has HP Grass then Dragonite can come in with ease.
Heracross: Hard to switch in to. Rotom is usually safe, but too many hits from Choice Banded hits are not good. As long as Rotom is around, I am safe from a sweep by a Scarfed one.
Infernape: NP Sets are handled by Starmie quite easily. Starmie doesn't like to switch into U-turn sets, but if they do have U-turn then Swampert will have no problems.
Jirachi: Jirachi typically has a hard time finding a good time to switch into my team. Flinch hax sets are no trouble thanks to Inner Focus on Dragonite :)
Jolteon: Choice Specs sets can be dangerous to my team, but thanks to Jolteon's squishy-ness, it will die from most hits on my team. Baton Pass sets w/o HP Grass are easily handled by Swampert.
Kingdra: As long as they don't get rain setup early on, they aren't too difficult to deal with. Kingdra's that expect to sub and dance are met quickly by Swampert. Rotom can pick off weakened ones.
Latias: As long as they don't have HP Fire, Scizor makes quick work of any Latias. They can be difficult if they get around Scizor but generally my metal bug gets his job done.
Lucario: I have yet to have a problem with a Lucario using this team. I try and not let Rotom out untill this guy shows his face, when Rotom then makes quick work of him.
Machamp: Name a team without Slowbro that isn't weak to this guy. Seriously, if they have Dynamic Punch and Payback, I will almost always lose at least one pokemon while trying to take him out.
Magnezone: Magnezone is really only a threat to Scizor, whom generally doesn't even come out until Latias is out. Swampert, Dragonite, and Heatran don't have many problems with him unless they're scarfed, but even then aren't too troublesome.
Mamoswine: Mixed sets are a bit difficult to switch into, but Scizor, Starmie, and Swampert can all deal with it once its out.
Metagross: As with most steels not named Heatran, it has difficulty finding time to switch in. Swampert, Heatran, Rotom-H, and Starmie can all do a number on Metagross.
Porygon-Z: A bit hard to switch into, but easy to kill. Scizor takes a lot from boosted Tri Attacks but can take them out with BP. Rotom loves switching in on a Choice'd Tri Attack.
Rhyperior: Having both Starmie and Swampert on the same team means this scary monster probably won't ever do much to my team.
Salamence: Mixmence is hard to switch into, and the rise in Mixmence usage is really starting to bug me. DD versions are easy to deal with, and even MixMence is easily dealt Swampert, Scizor, Starmie, and Stealth Rock once he's out.
Scizor: Scizor doesn't have many things to switch into on my team. Dragonite is not as easily KO'd by Bullet Punch unlike Dragonite's bretheren Salamence. Rotom, Heatran, and Starmie can all make quick work of Scizor.
Starmie: LO Starmie is troublesome. Rotom-H can take it out, and Scizor can pursuit it but not without taking heavy damage from a Hydro Pump in the process. Spinner versions are much less scary.
Togekiss: I hate this pokemon. Thankfully, Dragonite loves to fire off Draco Meteors in front of it while **NOT** getting flinched. Occasionally troublesome, but not as threatening as other things.
Tyranitar: Scizor and Swampert have all forms of Tyranitar covered.
Weavile:Really only threatens Dragonite. Taken out by Stealth Rock, Bullet Punch, and random hits.
Yanmega: Rotom has no trouble with the standard Bug Buzz / HP Ground. Dies to Stealth Rock quite easily.
Defensive Threat List:
Blissey: Blissey can be a bit difficult to switch into. Toxic is not so bad because it makes it easy for Scizor, but Thunder wave is something I try and have Dragonite and Scizor avoid. Generally I try and just double switch Dragonite into her, making for one dead Blissey.
Bronzong: Can't take Flamethrowers and Fire Blasts from Dragonite and Heatran, respectively. Generally not a problem.
Celebi: Status from Celebi can be annoying, but most Celebi are outsped and KO'd by both Dragonite and Heatran.
Donphan: More like Donphail. Theres a reason why he's UU now. Swampert and Starmie have no problems with him.
Forretress: Foretress runs for the hills when he sees Heatran, and his situation is not much better by also having Rotom and Dragonite on my team. Only Starmie and Swampert are affected by Toxic Spikes, and Starmie can even spin them away.
Hippowdon: Can't do much to me, and falls to Hydro Pump and Ice Beam. Can also Trick to make mostly worthless.
Skarmory: No problems here. See Forretress.
Snorlax: Curselax is easily roared away, and Dragonite can destroy ones without curses up.
Suicune: Toxic can be an unfriendly surprise for those switching into Heatran. Swampert can Roar away, Dragonite can deal heavy damage with Superpower or Draco Meteor, and Rotom can kill weakened ones with Thunderbolt.
Swampert: Leads are unpleasently surprised by Grass Knot Starmie. They also don't like Toxic from Heatran, and generally fall from a Draco Meteor or Grass Knot in the early-mid game.
Tentacruel: Slightly more difficult than most bulky waters due to its nice SpDef and being part Poison. Heatran behind a sub can do heavy damage with Earth Power, Rotom can KO weakened ones, and Swampert can do well with Earthquake.
Vaporeon: The most difficult of bulky waters. Grass Knot has only a power of 60, it can protect against Rotom to know what to do, and has a humungeous amount of HP. It can be dealt with much more easily if I get a Toxic on it, however.
Zapdos: Heatran with Stealth Rock down beats it, and often times even scares it away. Without HP Grass, Swampert has no trouble, and the same goes for Dragonite if it lacks HP Ice.
Thank you for reading my RMT. Please, rate away!
Difficult Threat
Very Difficult Threat
Aerodactyl: Starmie wins against leads. Swampert and Scizor don't mind any that are late game sweepers.
Alakazam: While Scizor might take some damage while switching in, bullet punch OHKO's. Heatran also doesn't mind taking unboosted Psychics.
Azelf: Azelf leads lose to Starmie, and any late game sweepers are usually stopped by Scizor. Thank God no one uses Azelf anymore.
Breloom: While Breloom itself is not actually hard to take down (usually done by Rotom), Spore is a very deadly move to my team. Status in general is not good for me, and Sleep is the hardest to deal with.
Dragonite: MixNite actually does a number on my team. Heatran and Swampert are good switch in's, but they probably won't come out in as good of health as they came in.
Dugtrio: Not even OU anymore. Heatran is the only Pokemon on my team that has trouble with this guy, but good luck switching it in (especially if I'm behind a sub).
Electivire: Without HP Grass, Electivre can only dream of breaking my Swampert. If it has HP Grass, it basically gives Dragonite a free switch in.
Empoleon: Probably the games best late game sweeper, and for a reason. If if has Ice Beam, Swampert can come and stop a sweep so long as it isn't behind a Sub. If it has Grass Knot, Dragonite can do the same.
Flygon: Swampert can switch in, but does not like repeated hits. A banded one is more dangerous to Swampert, but a Scarfed one is more dangerous to the rest of my team. Starmie can revenge kill non Scarfed ones.
Gengar: Gengar will always be a tricky Pokemon. Sub sets can be very difficult. Thanks to its frailty, it usually dies to random hits. It usually has a hard time switching in as well given my heavily special team (only one EQ for it to jump in on.)
Gyarados: Really not a big deal. Rotom makes sure it doens't destroy me after a DD, but even then Swampert can Roar him away and it will die to SR.
Heatran: Not too difficult. Swampert can freely come in on non-sub sets and non-HP Grass sets. If it has HP Grass then Dragonite can come in with ease.
Heracross: Hard to switch in to. Rotom is usually safe, but too many hits from Choice Banded hits are not good. As long as Rotom is around, I am safe from a sweep by a Scarfed one.
Infernape: NP Sets are handled by Starmie quite easily. Starmie doesn't like to switch into U-turn sets, but if they do have U-turn then Swampert will have no problems.
Jirachi: Jirachi typically has a hard time finding a good time to switch into my team. Flinch hax sets are no trouble thanks to Inner Focus on Dragonite :)
Jolteon: Choice Specs sets can be dangerous to my team, but thanks to Jolteon's squishy-ness, it will die from most hits on my team. Baton Pass sets w/o HP Grass are easily handled by Swampert.
Kingdra: As long as they don't get rain setup early on, they aren't too difficult to deal with. Kingdra's that expect to sub and dance are met quickly by Swampert. Rotom can pick off weakened ones.
Latias: As long as they don't have HP Fire, Scizor makes quick work of any Latias. They can be difficult if they get around Scizor but generally my metal bug gets his job done.
Lucario: I have yet to have a problem with a Lucario using this team. I try and not let Rotom out untill this guy shows his face, when Rotom then makes quick work of him.
Machamp: Name a team without Slowbro that isn't weak to this guy. Seriously, if they have Dynamic Punch and Payback, I will almost always lose at least one pokemon while trying to take him out.
Magnezone: Magnezone is really only a threat to Scizor, whom generally doesn't even come out until Latias is out. Swampert, Dragonite, and Heatran don't have many problems with him unless they're scarfed, but even then aren't too troublesome.
Mamoswine: Mixed sets are a bit difficult to switch into, but Scizor, Starmie, and Swampert can all deal with it once its out.
Metagross: As with most steels not named Heatran, it has difficulty finding time to switch in. Swampert, Heatran, Rotom-H, and Starmie can all do a number on Metagross.
Porygon-Z: A bit hard to switch into, but easy to kill. Scizor takes a lot from boosted Tri Attacks but can take them out with BP. Rotom loves switching in on a Choice'd Tri Attack.
Rhyperior: Having both Starmie and Swampert on the same team means this scary monster probably won't ever do much to my team.
Salamence: Mixmence is hard to switch into, and the rise in Mixmence usage is really starting to bug me. DD versions are easy to deal with, and even MixMence is easily dealt Swampert, Scizor, Starmie, and Stealth Rock once he's out.
Scizor: Scizor doesn't have many things to switch into on my team. Dragonite is not as easily KO'd by Bullet Punch unlike Dragonite's bretheren Salamence. Rotom, Heatran, and Starmie can all make quick work of Scizor.
Starmie: LO Starmie is troublesome. Rotom-H can take it out, and Scizor can pursuit it but not without taking heavy damage from a Hydro Pump in the process. Spinner versions are much less scary.
Togekiss: I hate this pokemon. Thankfully, Dragonite loves to fire off Draco Meteors in front of it while **NOT** getting flinched. Occasionally troublesome, but not as threatening as other things.
Tyranitar: Scizor and Swampert have all forms of Tyranitar covered.
Weavile:Really only threatens Dragonite. Taken out by Stealth Rock, Bullet Punch, and random hits.
Yanmega: Rotom has no trouble with the standard Bug Buzz / HP Ground. Dies to Stealth Rock quite easily.
Defensive Threat List:
Blissey: Blissey can be a bit difficult to switch into. Toxic is not so bad because it makes it easy for Scizor, but Thunder wave is something I try and have Dragonite and Scizor avoid. Generally I try and just double switch Dragonite into her, making for one dead Blissey.
Bronzong: Can't take Flamethrowers and Fire Blasts from Dragonite and Heatran, respectively. Generally not a problem.
Celebi: Status from Celebi can be annoying, but most Celebi are outsped and KO'd by both Dragonite and Heatran.
Cresselia: Scizor does a lot of damage with U-turn and Pursuit, but otherwise a fairly difficult Pokemon. Calm Mind variants are especially troublesome. Much like Blissey, hard to switch into because of T-wave.
Donphan: More like Donphail. Theres a reason why he's UU now. Swampert and Starmie have no problems with him.
Forretress: Foretress runs for the hills when he sees Heatran, and his situation is not much better by also having Rotom and Dragonite on my team. Only Starmie and Swampert are affected by Toxic Spikes, and Starmie can even spin them away.
Gliscor: Swampert means no Gliscor problems. Can Ice Beam to KO or Roar to stop Baton Passes.
Hippowdon: Can't do much to me, and falls to Hydro Pump and Ice Beam. Can also Trick to make mostly worthless.
Skarmory: No problems here. See Forretress.
Snorlax: Curselax is easily roared away, and Dragonite can destroy ones without curses up.
Suicune: Toxic can be an unfriendly surprise for those switching into Heatran. Swampert can Roar away, Dragonite can deal heavy damage with Superpower or Draco Meteor, and Rotom can kill weakened ones with Thunderbolt.
Swampert: Leads are unpleasently surprised by Grass Knot Starmie. They also don't like Toxic from Heatran, and generally fall from a Draco Meteor or Grass Knot in the early-mid game.
Tentacruel: Slightly more difficult than most bulky waters due to its nice SpDef and being part Poison. Heatran behind a sub can do heavy damage with Earth Power, Rotom can KO weakened ones, and Swampert can do well with Earthquake.
Vaporeon: The most difficult of bulky waters. Grass Knot has only a power of 60, it can protect against Rotom to know what to do, and has a humungeous amount of HP. It can be dealt with much more easily if I get a Toxic on it, however.
Zapdos: Heatran with Stealth Rock down beats it, and often times even scares it away. Without HP Grass, Swampert has no trouble, and the same goes for Dragonite if it lacks HP Ice.
Thank you for reading my RMT. Please, rate away!
