Other Balanced Hackmons-Passing for lyfe

Cinna The Poet

Cinna The Poet

Hi there! So this is my first team, and as the name suggests, it is heavily based around baton passing. SO lets jump in!

Stage 1 (Shuckle) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Cotton Guard
- Agility
- Amnesia
- Baton Pass

Yes, this is Stage 1! He is my lead, and soaks up Physical Attacks like nothing. His job is simple: Cotton Guard two times, So no physical move will do anything, Amnesia three times, so Special ATtackers will also have trouble, Agility 3 times, then Baton Pass! Of course, based on matchups, I will sometimes start Amnesia first. He becomes literally unkillable after a while, and then baton passes to stage 2!

Stage 2 (Shuckle) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Baton Pass

This Shuckle has Prankster, and he has a slightly different job. He sets up Hazards, then starts Swords Dancing. AFter 3 of those, he baton passes to Stage 3! And you may have noticed the Lum Berries: They are just to keep these Shuckle's healthy while they set up. Not much else to say here, so lets move on to Stage 3!

Stage 3 (Shuckle) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Substitute
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Baton Pass

This Shuckle also has Prankster, but again has a massively different job. First he sets up a virtually unkillable substitute, then he sets up Reflect and Light Screen to make the team even MORE unkillable. Not much else to say-THe other shuckles descriptions should tell you really. Finally, he baton passes to...

Emboar @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Flare Blitz
- Head Smash
- Brave Bird

EMBOAR! Now, right off the bat, I know that EMboar is not the best pokemon competitively. Nowhere near. But he is my favourite pokemon, and in Hackmons, I can use him! Hackmons gives him amazing coverage, and Magic Guard+Life Orb+No recoil means he hits really hard. Not much survives his STAB Flare Blitz after he gets his Baton Pass boosts. Brave Bird him nice coverage, and Head Smash and Wood Hammer take care of most of his weaknesses. He sweeps amazingly once he gets all his boosts, and with his High HP, It's hard to take him down.

Mewtant (Mewtwo-Mega-Y) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Psycho Boost
- Draco Meteor
- Overheat

Of course, it doesn't always work. In which case, my Mewtant will destroy everything in its path. WIth Contrary, he punishes opponents that try to lower his stats, especially sticky web teams. All of his moves benefit from Contrary, and he hits like an absolute truck. I gave him leftovers because I honestly couldn't think of an offensive item to give him. If you have any ideas, pls help!

Archeops @ Choice Band
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed

Really just my version of Talonflame for Hackmons. With Choice Band, Aeriliate Boost, STAB, and a nice 146 base attack, ExtremeSpeed hits quite hard and has great priority. I haven't given him anything else as I can't really think of a good idea for another move-and just running ExtremeSpeed means 252 HP / 252 Atk is OK. Let me know what you think of him.

SO thats it! I hope you like it! I haven't been able to test it that much yet but it seems to work quite well. Have fun with it!
 
Wyatt Sage is right; Imposter Chansey obliterates you. Before Stage 3 comes in, it can steal your boosts and sweep. After Stage 3, it can Skill Swap Imposter through the Substitute and basically end your Baton Passing then and there. If you try to sweep with Mega Mewtwo Y, you have no stop for it, so you will get counterswept. Same with Archeops, in all likelihood.

Any phazing also ends your chain, because you have no Ingrain users and no Magic Bounce or Suction Cups. You should add a Magic Bouncer, maybe one with Defog so you can take away hazards (which present a serious problem).

You also have no stops for most offensive threast in the meta, including Refrigerate, Pixilate and Aerilate, Sturdy Shedinja, Protean attackers with King's Shield, and many others. I'd recommend diversifying the defensive Pokemon you use, maybe by adding Mega Aggron or Aegislash or something that isn't Shuckle.

There's no reason to run a single move on Archeops. You may not use anything else, but on the off-chance that you will you might as well add some others (maybe a Shedinja counter!).

In addition, in the roles you're using them, Archeops is outclassed by Mega Rayquaza, and Emboar is outclassed by Mega Aerodactyl or Mega Blaziken (I know it's your favorite Pokemon).

My final suggestion is that you look here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/balanced-hackmons-viability-rankings.3520997/

This should help you get a better feel for the meta and the threats you need to take care of in order to succeed.

Sorry for being harsh. I hope you keep on playing Balanced Hackmons; it's my personal favorite meta and it's always good to have new players.
 
Same here to Uselesscrab. Shedinja and Chansey wreck his team. I personally say replace one of the pokes you have with the counter of both of them. A sturdy shedinja with toxic and lum berry.

Shedinja @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Atk / 4 Defense
Any nature
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Endeavour
- Any move u want
This is a little guy I forged out of the ashes of Shedinja and Chansey spams. This guy counters most other Shedinjas with taunt and then toxic. Perfect to kill em. Endeavour works for imposter chanseys who want to go out there and be big and bad. You setup Toxic and then Endeavour em, dead chanseys ftw.
 
Wyatt Sage said:
Same here to Uselesscrab. Shedinja and Chansey wreck his team. I personally say replace one of the pokes you have with the counter of both of them. A sturdy shedinja with toxic and lum berry.

Shedinja @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Atk / 4 Defense
Any nature
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Endeavour
- Any move u want
This is a little guy I forged out of the ashes of Shedinja and Chansey spams. This guy counters most other Shedinjas with taunt and then toxic. Perfect to kill em. Endeavour works for imposter chanseys who want to go out there and be big and bad. You setup Toxic and then Endeavour em, dead chanseys ftw.
Click to expand...

This is okay, but I don't think it's the optimal set.

Shedinja @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
Null HP, Defense, Special Defense, Speed
- Endeavor
- Ice Shard
- Baton Pass/Volt Switch
- Recycle

Endeavor serves the purpose you mentioned; beating things that can't kill you. But rather than rely on Toxic damage, I think it'd be a good idea to have Ice Shard to finish off opponents. I choose Ice Shard over another priority move because it's non-contact and thus doesn't activate Rocky Helmet. Baton Pass / Volt Switch is for momentum, so when the opponent brings in their Shedinja counter, you get switch advantage. Recycle is so there's actually a point to having Lum Berry. The Null IVs are to make Imposter Chansey extremely weak so it's easier to kill the Shedinja copy with your other Pokemon.

The reason why Toxic and Taunt aren't ideal is Magic Bounce. I think my set, the more commonly used one, is better for most teams.
 
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I heavily advise against using Shuckle. It has a very, very bad typing in Bug/Rock. It doesn't resist any of the common coverage moves, and is weak to Water. Water coverage is fairly common now with more Kyogre-Primals seeing usage. Also Shuckle isn't actually that bulky compared to other bulky Pokemon in the meta game. look at these calcs:
252 SpA Spooky Plate Mold Breaker Mega Gengar Judgment vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Xerneas: 175-207 (38.4 - 45.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Spooky Plate Mold Breaker Mega Gengar Judgment vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Shuckle: 93-111 (38.1 - 45.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Basically these calcs demonstrate a baseline to compare its Shuckle's bulk with, which is to an Xerneas. I suggest a Registeel, Mega Audino, Aegislash, or Giratina to replace the Shuckles. I also recommend not using the same Pokemon twice for the same role. So instead of using two Shuckles use a Mega Audino and Giratina. Giratina and Mega Audino have synergy because they cover each other's weaknesses. Three Shuckles are swept by the same things.

Also as people have already pointed out Imposter Chansey destroys your team. I find Imprison is a good way to counter Chansey, or to trap it with Thousand Waves and PP stall.
 
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