Cannonball
[youtube]S9_KLdeaijs[/youtube]
AKA Crazy Sunshine 2.0
This is what I used for a good portion of Deoxys-D suspect, and it's quickly become my favorite BW2 team that I've made. It certainly feels like the most solid one. It's not an accomplished team (well it did get #1 on the suspect ladder but who really gives a fuck about that), but I feel it's the "best" team that I've made so far, and it has favorable match-ups against a lot of teams. Standard Tyranitar + 5 Offensive mons and no spinners teams pretty much auto-lose to this team when played correctly, and I feel it's very solid against just about everything else.
This team started off with adjustments to Crazy Sunshine. I had abandoned the team previously due to being unsatisfied with its performance against Tornadus-T. With Tornadus-T banned and Deoxys-D being suspected, I felt it was the perfect time to try to reignite the old spark with a set I had wanted to use for a while: Custap Berry Forretress. I don't remember why I switched to Venusaur from Lilligant to be quite honest, but I have yet to regret it. Venusaur is just so fucking good. There was a period where there were five static Pokemon on the team, and the sixth slot just kept changing because I couldn't find an appropriate answer to my weaknesses. I tried Scarf Garchomp, Specs Rotom-H, Sash Alakazam, all to ultimately disappointing effect. Then I saw Windsong's .dancin (it is almost purely coincidence that our teams have four Pokemon in common I swear) and saw Cresselia. Later when I was reviewing the team and assessing its weaknesses, everything just clicked and I realized Cresselia was the answer. Ironically I would wind up with the exact same moveset as Windsong, because it covered the weaknesses I wanted it to cover perfectly. Cresselia has been doing serious work for this team, and its addition is what convinced me after consistent play that this was definitely a "good" team. Thanks Windsong!
That said this isn't a team you can just pick up and use. It takes practice and a practical assessment of threats, and a very thorough understanding of all the subtle interactions within the team itself and how it reacts to specific threats that I don't think can be easily grasped without putting some time into playing it (I could be exaggerating though). If it works for you then excellent, by all means use it!
Ninetales @ Leftovers
Drought
Calm 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
-Flamethrower
-Roar
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
This is probably a bit of a surprise, huh? I came to the conclusion that offensive Sunny Day Ninetales sucks in this metagame, so I switched back to specially defensive. After a while I noticed that Ninetales’s lack of longevity could be a problem, and also noticed that I was coming to depend on Roar from Ninetales to deal with CM Substitute Latias and Hidden Power Ground-less Volcarona. This, in conjunction with how annoying Breloom could be, made me decide to try out Restalk. I had used Rest by itself before solely to give me more shots at reintroducing sun even in the face of opposing hazards, but hadn’t used Sleep Talk alongside it. (This is legal in BW2 btw in case anyone was wondering about that) It’s been working fairly well, and greatly increases Ninetales’s odds of living throughout the game to keep sunlight up. I mean it’s not like Ninetales is really good for anything else lol
Forretress @ Custap Berry
Sturdy
Careful 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
-Toxic
-Rapid Spin
A bit of a different take on Forretress, this set has contributed greatly to the team’s success. It functions quite similarly to Deoxys-D, with its primary goals being to set up Stealth Rock and Spikes in the beginning of the game. Consequently, Forretress is often the first member of the team to die. The way the set usually works is that it sets Stealth Rock on the first turn while the opponent uses something that brings it down to 1 HP after Sturdy. After that Custap Berry will activate, and Forretress should get a layer of Spikes up before dying. Custap Berry is useful in other situations as well; for example, Forretress can Toxic a Volcarona, and even if that Volcarona is Lum Berry, Forretress can just get Toxic off again before dying. Toxic has been very useful against various threats, such as Hippowdon, Jellicent, and Latias. There have been quite a few games where I would have lost without it, although I do sometimes miss Gyro Ball, which I used to run over it. (Mostly I miss it against Terrakion, Azelf, and Espeon) Rapid Spin isn’t used much except against Hippowdon teams, where there is usually much less pressure on Forretress, or against lead Terrakion. There are times when Stealth Rock is very annoying (usually when Ninetales or Chandelure are low on HP, or I need Dugtrio’s Focus Sash intact), but I’m leaning towards putting Gyro Ball back on Forretress in place of Rapid Spin.
Chandelure @ Choice Scarf
Flash Fire
Timid 252 SAtk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
-Fire Blast
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Trick
Chandelure is actually probably the most integral member of this team, because it just does so much. Its primary role is of course spin-blocking; the team isn’t nearly as effective with no hazards. Chandelure in sun is very hard for most spinners to get through. Forretress obviously wants nothing to do with it, and Starmie is outsped and OHKOed by Shadow Ball (or Fire Blast in sun if it’s offensive Starmie and Stealth Rock + Spikes is up!). Tentacruel is the only thing that stands a chance, and even then it takes a fair amount from Shadow Ball, and is ultimately embarking on a fruitless suicide mission if it tries to press the point of going toe-to-toe with Chandelure. Chandelure might die, sure, but Tentacruel won’t have gotten the spin off and will be sufficiently weakened so that Dugtrio can outspeed and OHKO with Earthquake, keeping the hazards safely intact. Chandelure is also excellent Pursuit-bait, making it very easy to snare Tyranitar with Dugtrio. Chandelure additionally acts as a revenge-killer, dispatching dangerous threats like DDNite and SD Garchomp with Hidden Power Ice, Lati@s with Shadow Ball, and Breloom, Scizor, Mamoswine, and Weavile with Fire Blast. Finally, Chandelure is an excellent lategame cleaner due to the raw power of sun-boosted Fire Blast, and it very conveniently meshes with Venusaur offensively; Chandelure can easily dispose of the threats that Venusaur wouldn’t be able to get through, while the likes of Keldeo and Terrakion are a free meal for Venusaur. Trick is the only move I’m a bit reluctant about, but it’s pretty much my only answer to Shed Shell Heatran and can create some opportunities for Venusaur to set up.
Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Arena Trap
Jolly 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 21 HP
-Earthquake
-Reversal
-Memento
-Substitute
There isn’t much to say about Dugtrio really. Everyone should be familiar with how it works by now. On this team its primary goal is to eliminate Heatran and Tyranitar, as well as assist Chandelure in preventing Tentacruel from ever getting a Rapid Spin off successfully. Dugtrio does wind up performing handyman duties though, usually in the form of sniping the likes of Terrakion or Magnezone, or wearing down a Toxic’d opponent by spamming Substitute. My favorite use of it on this team, though, is Memento. Memento is a move I love on Dugtrio, but don’t often get to play around with since I usually need to use Stealth Rock in that moveslot. Here, Memento creates set-up opportunities for Venusaur that normally would not exist, and if the game has been played out properly this is often enough to win by itself by the time that happens. It can also give Ninetales a chance to get off a Rest in some cases, giving me a chance to keep sun in the game where I might not otherwise have a chance at it.
Cresselia @Leftovers
Levitate
Calm 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
-Ice Beam
-Hidden Power [Fire]
-Toxic
-Moonlight
For a while I had felt that this had merely been an “ok” team and one I was not particularly enthused about; this was mostly due to weaknesses to the likes of Lati@s, Landorus, Landorus-T, etc. I had been running Focus Sash Alakazam in an attempt to remedy all of these problems a little bit, but it wasn’t enough. Then I saw Windsong’s RMT, and Cresselia. Ironically I didn’t initially take his set; I actually came to the conclusion that his were the exact same moves I needed piece-by-piece from the ground up, based on what had been consistently plaguing me: Ice Beam hits Landorus, Dragonite, Landorus-T, etc., Toxic cripples Latias and Volcarona; Moonlight allows Cresselia to consistently check Latios (I opted for specially defensive Cresselia specifically to allow it to live two Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteors after Stealth Rock, and to combat rain a bit better). Really the only move that I feel comfortable with changing is Hidden Power Fire; it has come in handy against Scizor, Ferrothorn, Forretress, etc., and for the most part the move does what it needs to. It felt natural since most of the threats I feel would be covered by a Psychic-STAB are more than sufficiently handled by either Toxic + Moonlight or sun-boosted Hidden Power Fire. Perhaps Reflect could go over it; it would very easily fit into the sub-theme of “try to set up Venusaur and shit on everything”.
Venusaur @ Life Orb
Chlorophyll
Timid 72 HP / 252 SAtk / 184 Spe
-Giga Drain
-Sludge Bomb
-Hidden Power [Fire]
-Growth
The team’s primary win condition. Venusaur is just an utter juggernaut in the lategame; if it can get set up and have its few obstacles removed, it is nigh impossible to stop a full sweep; even Life Orb recoil isn’t going to cut the rampage short due to Giga Drain’s recovery. By lategame the two biggest obstructions to Venusaur (opposing weather and Heatran) should be out of the picture; and the other Pokemon that can put a stop to Vensuaur (Mamoswine, Latias, Scizor if Venusaur is weakened enough, etc.) mostly get stomped by Chandelure or are just flat-out walled by Cresselia. Really it’s hard to convey how much of a runaway train Venusaur can become. You really just have to steamroll a few teams with it before you can understand just how fucking scary this thing is. Timid and EVs ensure you get the jump on Scarf Latios and below, and I think I also have a point or two of Speed creep just to get ahead of other similar Venusaurs.
Threats: