Yes, I know that the title was kinda cheesy.
Team building process:
1. I needed a sturdy lead that could take hits as well as deal them out, as well as setting up Stealth Rock and Trick Room.
BRONZONG
2. Now that I have a set lead, I needed two more trick roomers with three sweepers. I checked Smogon's article on Trick Room, and one Pokémon caught my eye - Porygon2. It could easily handle DDMence as well as DDGyara, as they would both be killed with a super-effective attack. With Trace, Porygon2 could copy some of the best abilities out there - Intimidate, Water Absorb, Volt Absorb - and kill off those Pokémon.
BRONZONG/PORYGON2
3. Now, for a final Trick Roomer. I wanted a lot of bulk on this team, and Dusknoir is a great choice for this. I share sympathy for Pokémon with un[der]recognized potential, and Noir is one of them. With huge defenses across the board, as well as Pain Split for when the chips are down, Dusknoir can spread burn and activate Trick Room.
BRONZONG/PORYGON2/DUSKNOIR
4. Time to start sweeping. I wanted a huge mixed sweeper who could dish out the damage as well as take a couple of hits. Another underappreciated name popped into mind: Dragonite. Sporting above-average attacking stats as well as a slow speed, Dragonite could finally shine in this Salamence-ridden metagame (although I have no gripe with Salamence).
BRONZONG/PORYGON2/DUSKNOIR/DRAGONITE
5. Now, I want a pure physical sweeper and pure special sweeper. For physical, I needed something really slow, but could pack an extreme punch. I debated over Snorlax, Machamp, and Swampert for a while, and realized that Dynamicpunch was a better move than Lax's and Pert's sets combined. For special, I wanted Empoleon, with fantastic typing, a versatile movepool, and a Special attack stat that stings most switch-ins.
BRONZONG/PORYGON2/DUSKNOIR/DRAGONITE/EMPOLEON/MACHAMP
A closer look at my team:
* Assume 0Speed IV's for everyone
- The lead:
Bronzong: Levitate
@ Leftovers
Relaxed Nature. EVs: 252HP/152Atk/8Def/96SpD
- Trick Room
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
Why Bronzong?
- Bronzong is easily one of the sturdiest leads in the game, and can take a couple of hits while setting up trick room. I opted for Leftovers instead of the Lum Berry because I believe that it could use the recovery instead of healing itself from burn/sleep/freeze. It can also kill Azelf and Aerodactyl with Gyro Ball, which is a 2HKO on both. This lead will have trouble with lead Gliscor, which can be handled (kinda) with an Ice beam from Porygon2.
- The Set-up guy:
Porygon2: Trace
@ Leftovers
Quiet Nature. EVs: 252HP, 120Def, 136SpA
- Trick Room
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
Why Porygon2?
- This rubber ducky can easily shut down a lot of top OU threats, be it DDMence, DDGyara, Heatran locked into a fire type attack, and even Flygon locked into EQ, and can easily set up Trick Room as they switch out. This allows me to Recover off the damage I took, or switch to an appropriate counter.
- The Wall:
Dusknoir: Pressure
@ Leftovers
Relaxed Nature. EVs: 252HP, 252Def, 4SpD
- Trick Room
- Will-o-Wisp
- Earthquake
- Pain Split
Why Dusknoir?
- Simply put: with Trick Room up, Noir easily outclasses Rotom-A, formerly known as the premier spin blocker of OU. I like Dusknoir because he has higher defenses as well as access to Pain split, a move I abuse frequently to get myself out of tough jams. Will-o-Wisp shuts down every physical attacker in the game, and since he out-speeds Breloom under Trick Room, he can cause a burn, rendering Breloom's Toxic Orb useless.
- The Mixed Sweeper:
Dragonite: Inner Focus
@ Life Orb
Quiet Nature. EVs: 252Atk, 252SpA, 4HP
- Draco Meteor
- Superpower
- Roost
- Flamethrower
Why Dragonite?
- With over 100 in both Attack and Special attack, Dragonite makes for one great mixed sweeper. Although normally outclassed by Salamence in most everything, Dragonite shines brighter in Trick room then his fellow dragon brethren (Salamence and Flygon), and Latias (what, it isn't a guy). I sacrificed its natural bulk in order to give it the fullest potential to sweep in a Trick Room Environment. Roost is there in order to heal off LO/Sandstorm/SR residual damage.
The Special Sweeper:
Empoleon: Torrent
@ Expert Belt
Quiet Nature. EVs: 252HP, 252SpA, 4Def
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- HP Fire (debating this last slot)
Why Empoleon?
- Empoleon is a great Pokémon. With a Special attack of 112, it can easily defeat anything that it hits for supereffective damage. The EV's here are simple: I maxed my attacking stat, then, since this set isn't running a mixed spread, I gave Empoleon max HP for bulk, as well.
The Physical Sweeper:
Machamp: No Guard
@ Leftovers
Brave Nature. EVs: 252HP, 252Atk, 4Def
- Dynamicpunch
- Payback
- Stone Edge
- Substitute
Why Machamp?
- Machamp is a sexy beast, even out of Trick Room. With a move that has a 100% shot at causing confusion, it can force a lot of switches, and not a lot of Pokémon resist the Fighting/Dark combination (I don't think anything does - please correct me if I'm wrong). Stone Edge allows me to hit Flyers, as well as Pokémon that resist Dynamicpunch.
So far, no one has been able to stop this team. With Dusknoir spreading burn around to Machamp being Machamp to Porygon2 shutting down the likes of Heatran, Salamence, Jolteon, and Vaporeon (and Shedinja), this team poses a huge threat to anyone unprepared. I think that status will be the bane of this team, because no one can stop good Thunder Waves and Toxics (although Machamp doesn't really mind the former).
* images courtesy of arkeis/aragonbird
Team building process:
1. I needed a sturdy lead that could take hits as well as deal them out, as well as setting up Stealth Rock and Trick Room.
BRONZONG
2. Now that I have a set lead, I needed two more trick roomers with three sweepers. I checked Smogon's article on Trick Room, and one Pokémon caught my eye - Porygon2. It could easily handle DDMence as well as DDGyara, as they would both be killed with a super-effective attack. With Trace, Porygon2 could copy some of the best abilities out there - Intimidate, Water Absorb, Volt Absorb - and kill off those Pokémon.
BRONZONG/PORYGON2
3. Now, for a final Trick Roomer. I wanted a lot of bulk on this team, and Dusknoir is a great choice for this. I share sympathy for Pokémon with un[der]recognized potential, and Noir is one of them. With huge defenses across the board, as well as Pain Split for when the chips are down, Dusknoir can spread burn and activate Trick Room.
BRONZONG/PORYGON2/DUSKNOIR
4. Time to start sweeping. I wanted a huge mixed sweeper who could dish out the damage as well as take a couple of hits. Another underappreciated name popped into mind: Dragonite. Sporting above-average attacking stats as well as a slow speed, Dragonite could finally shine in this Salamence-ridden metagame (although I have no gripe with Salamence).
BRONZONG/PORYGON2/DUSKNOIR/DRAGONITE
5. Now, I want a pure physical sweeper and pure special sweeper. For physical, I needed something really slow, but could pack an extreme punch. I debated over Snorlax, Machamp, and Swampert for a while, and realized that Dynamicpunch was a better move than Lax's and Pert's sets combined. For special, I wanted Empoleon, with fantastic typing, a versatile movepool, and a Special attack stat that stings most switch-ins.
BRONZONG/PORYGON2/DUSKNOIR/DRAGONITE/EMPOLEON/MACHAMP
A closer look at my team:
* Assume 0Speed IV's for everyone
- The lead:
Bronzong: Levitate
@ Leftovers
Relaxed Nature. EVs: 252HP/152Atk/8Def/96SpD
- Trick Room
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
Why Bronzong?
- Bronzong is easily one of the sturdiest leads in the game, and can take a couple of hits while setting up trick room. I opted for Leftovers instead of the Lum Berry because I believe that it could use the recovery instead of healing itself from burn/sleep/freeze. It can also kill Azelf and Aerodactyl with Gyro Ball, which is a 2HKO on both. This lead will have trouble with lead Gliscor, which can be handled (kinda) with an Ice beam from Porygon2.
- The Set-up guy:
Porygon2: Trace
@ Leftovers
Quiet Nature. EVs: 252HP, 120Def, 136SpA
- Trick Room
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
Why Porygon2?
- This rubber ducky can easily shut down a lot of top OU threats, be it DDMence, DDGyara, Heatran locked into a fire type attack, and even Flygon locked into EQ, and can easily set up Trick Room as they switch out. This allows me to Recover off the damage I took, or switch to an appropriate counter.
- The Wall:
Dusknoir: Pressure
@ Leftovers
Relaxed Nature. EVs: 252HP, 252Def, 4SpD
- Trick Room
- Will-o-Wisp
- Earthquake
- Pain Split
Why Dusknoir?
- Simply put: with Trick Room up, Noir easily outclasses Rotom-A, formerly known as the premier spin blocker of OU. I like Dusknoir because he has higher defenses as well as access to Pain split, a move I abuse frequently to get myself out of tough jams. Will-o-Wisp shuts down every physical attacker in the game, and since he out-speeds Breloom under Trick Room, he can cause a burn, rendering Breloom's Toxic Orb useless.
- The Mixed Sweeper:
Dragonite: Inner Focus
@ Life Orb
Quiet Nature. EVs: 252Atk, 252SpA, 4HP
- Draco Meteor
- Superpower
- Roost
- Flamethrower
Why Dragonite?
- With over 100 in both Attack and Special attack, Dragonite makes for one great mixed sweeper. Although normally outclassed by Salamence in most everything, Dragonite shines brighter in Trick room then his fellow dragon brethren (Salamence and Flygon), and Latias (what, it isn't a guy). I sacrificed its natural bulk in order to give it the fullest potential to sweep in a Trick Room Environment. Roost is there in order to heal off LO/Sandstorm/SR residual damage.
The Special Sweeper:
Empoleon: Torrent
@ Expert Belt
Quiet Nature. EVs: 252HP, 252SpA, 4Def
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- HP Fire (debating this last slot)
Why Empoleon?
- Empoleon is a great Pokémon. With a Special attack of 112, it can easily defeat anything that it hits for supereffective damage. The EV's here are simple: I maxed my attacking stat, then, since this set isn't running a mixed spread, I gave Empoleon max HP for bulk, as well.
The Physical Sweeper:
Machamp: No Guard
@ Leftovers
Brave Nature. EVs: 252HP, 252Atk, 4Def
- Dynamicpunch
- Payback
- Stone Edge
- Substitute
Why Machamp?
- Machamp is a sexy beast, even out of Trick Room. With a move that has a 100% shot at causing confusion, it can force a lot of switches, and not a lot of Pokémon resist the Fighting/Dark combination (I don't think anything does - please correct me if I'm wrong). Stone Edge allows me to hit Flyers, as well as Pokémon that resist Dynamicpunch.
So far, no one has been able to stop this team. With Dusknoir spreading burn around to Machamp being Machamp to Porygon2 shutting down the likes of Heatran, Salamence, Jolteon, and Vaporeon (and Shedinja), this team poses a huge threat to anyone unprepared. I think that status will be the bane of this team, because no one can stop good Thunder Waves and Toxics (although Machamp doesn't really mind the former).
* images courtesy of arkeis/aragonbird
