Hey guys, I've been looking at fun cores to build around and I finally settled on one that has three of my favorite pokemon to use (the ones in the title if that's unclear, lol.) I'm honestly not the greatest teambuilder but this one's done really well for me and I'd appreciate any input you lovely folks would have regarding optimized sets/better replacement mons/etc. With that said, let's get to the actual analysis.
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
The first one up is a pretty standard Band!Tar set with Pursuit to trap/chip things like the Lati@s twins, Heatran and Talonflame which all pretty much wall my Serperior set. Stone Edge and Crunch are there for heavy STAB damage and Superpower makes for an excellent coverage move for the bulkier steels that like to switch in on T-Tar. I've varied up the speed a bit as I've played but this kind of the medium that outspeeds a good amount of threats that I need Tar to beat.
Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
Serperior pairs really well with Tar as stated above as the vast majority of its threats are nullified by it. I've tried both Glare+3 attacks and this set and ultimately this worked much better from what I've found with the rest of the team. With the combination of Leftovers and seeding correctly, Serperior has pretty decent recovery and through a combo of that with the occasional Leaf Storm to boost, it can beat down some threats that would otherwise stop it in its tracks.
Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 16 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
- Roost
I went with a decently bulky M!Scizor for this team (it's the standard Smogon set and I found it to work really well) and with Tyranitar removing a lot of the fire types that would otherwise stop Scizor in its tracks early in the game, it functions extremely well as a mid-late game cleaner that only needs a single SD to finish off the opponents mons that should be weakened at that point.
Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Swords Dance
- Will-O-Wisp
Again, this is just another mon that synergizes really well with Tar who can eliminate most of its threats and the ones that can't, Serp does a pretty good job of taking out. Since my only attacking move is already priority, I dumped almost all of it into HP and obviously maxed out the attack for the rest. Wisp is great for shutting down predicted physical attackers that are switching in and from there I can usually combine Swords Dance and Roost to get a boost while retaining a good percentage of health.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
I needed a spinner as well as a secondary option for bulky waters that would otherwise destroy this team once Serperior goes down so Starmie was really perfect for that. I went with bolt/beam coverage instead of Psyshock and Recover as I found that Starmie almost never was in long enough to take advantage of recovering and fighting types haven't been a huge issue so far thanks to a combination of Talonflame and Lando-T.
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
It's hard not to put Landorus on with how perfectly he does his job as a physical tank as well as setting up rocks. I can almost always get up hazards, U-Turn on the next move and gain momentum from that accordingly to get in one of my more offensive team members. Plus, the little bit of chip damage from Rocky Helmet really adds up and has stalled out a couple threats that I couldn't deal with otherwise.
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
The first one up is a pretty standard Band!Tar set with Pursuit to trap/chip things like the Lati@s twins, Heatran and Talonflame which all pretty much wall my Serperior set. Stone Edge and Crunch are there for heavy STAB damage and Superpower makes for an excellent coverage move for the bulkier steels that like to switch in on T-Tar. I've varied up the speed a bit as I've played but this kind of the medium that outspeeds a good amount of threats that I need Tar to beat.
Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
Serperior pairs really well with Tar as stated above as the vast majority of its threats are nullified by it. I've tried both Glare+3 attacks and this set and ultimately this worked much better from what I've found with the rest of the team. With the combination of Leftovers and seeding correctly, Serperior has pretty decent recovery and through a combo of that with the occasional Leaf Storm to boost, it can beat down some threats that would otherwise stop it in its tracks.
Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 16 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
- Roost
I went with a decently bulky M!Scizor for this team (it's the standard Smogon set and I found it to work really well) and with Tyranitar removing a lot of the fire types that would otherwise stop Scizor in its tracks early in the game, it functions extremely well as a mid-late game cleaner that only needs a single SD to finish off the opponents mons that should be weakened at that point.
Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Swords Dance
- Will-O-Wisp
Again, this is just another mon that synergizes really well with Tar who can eliminate most of its threats and the ones that can't, Serp does a pretty good job of taking out. Since my only attacking move is already priority, I dumped almost all of it into HP and obviously maxed out the attack for the rest. Wisp is great for shutting down predicted physical attackers that are switching in and from there I can usually combine Swords Dance and Roost to get a boost while retaining a good percentage of health.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
I needed a spinner as well as a secondary option for bulky waters that would otherwise destroy this team once Serperior goes down so Starmie was really perfect for that. I went with bolt/beam coverage instead of Psyshock and Recover as I found that Starmie almost never was in long enough to take advantage of recovering and fighting types haven't been a huge issue so far thanks to a combination of Talonflame and Lando-T.
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
It's hard not to put Landorus on with how perfectly he does his job as a physical tank as well as setting up rocks. I can almost always get up hazards, U-Turn on the next move and gain momentum from that accordingly to get in one of my more offensive team members. Plus, the little bit of chip damage from Rocky Helmet really adds up and has stalled out a couple threats that I couldn't deal with otherwise.
