Counter that Pokemon - Mk IV [FINAL MATCH - Team 1 won!]

[alexwolf]

Hmm, a CB Scizor partner would have the bulk to counter Kyu-B while running Quick Attack over Pursuit would allow it to stop Volcarona that haven't healed off SR damage with Roost. Volcarona looks good but it needs too much to be successful IMO. First of all, having Volcarona means no spinner on Team 1 so once SR is up it can't do anything about it. Secondly, it'll need QD as well as Roost so that a CB Quick Attack (as well as setup anywhere) as well as Giga Drain for the water types (which won't OHKO so they can still check it) plus Bug Buzz to hit Garchomp and a fire STAB since Zapdos can tank even +6 Buzzs from the bulky sets (good luck not getting critted in the mean time). In general, though, Volcarona would have a really hard time setting up anywhere. The only places it could pull it off is on Zapdos (who has Volt Switch) and Scizor (who has U-Turn, Quick Attack) so I don't think it is really a threat. I'll look into other possible problems and if I don't see anything really big I'll post Blastoise.

Actually a max HP / max SpA Volcarona with Wise Glasses and a movest of Fire Blast / Giga Drain / Bug Buzz / Quiver Dance with a Modest nature OHKOes and outspeeds everything at +1 (with SR), except from Blastoise which loses 80.11 - 94.47% from Giga Drain, while getting setup chances against Zapdos and Scizor, and even Rotom-W if needed. This means that Zapdos will be a liability against Volcarona and every time Landorus comes in we will be in a pretty difficult position, as if we go to Zapdos Landorus can just U-turn out and sweep with Volcarona. The only relieving thing is that SR will never be up if we go with Blastoise so Volcarona won't manage to get the OHKO on Garchomp (only 25% chance to do so), but if Chomp has taken even a LO round then it easily gets OHKOed.

Heatran as a partner to Blastoise completely counters Volcarona, but has the problem of being weak to all the Pokemon you mentioned and more (Jolly Stone Edge Breloom is a big one too). And now that i think about it, Volcarona can just forgo Fire Blast and go for Hidden Power Ground as Fire Blast is only useful for Zapdos, which can't do anything back to Volcarona anyway, completely destroying Heatran. Hmm. Idk, overall Scizor seems as the better partner to Blastoise but still the Volcarona weakness seems huge, but thankfully they don't have a spinner. But as i said again, i don't feel comfortable with Zapdos being a liability as long as Volcarona is alive, which hinder its job at handling Landorus.

For now, putting my support behind Blastoise.

 

[MMII]

At the same time, Volcarona would have to predict almost perfectly to setup that scenario. It would only realistically have Zapdos it could setup on (if they pick that, Scizor has no problem staying back a bit) which a single Volt Switch ruins as they have to switch out after losing 50% from SR. The fact that, worst case scenario, Blastoise can tank a hit makes sure Volcarona won't break through the first time it comes in and it won't get a second chance. Saving Volcarona for late game is risky too seeing as Blastoise can Roar it out and Scizor can run a customized set to OHKO with +2 Bullet Punch after SR. (It's actually pretty flexible with what it can run atm) It may work out but, IMO, it's so risky for Team 1 that I would be against them trying to attempt it.

 

[Homeslice]

Just because there's been some concern about needing a scarfer vs needing a spinner, I want to point out a Scarfer isn't entirely necessary for team 2 at this point. Two Pokemon are Pursuit weak, and Landorus and Kyurem-B both falls to Ice Shard and Bullet Punch respectively. Scizor and Weavile could easily be revenge killers without a scarf, and I'm sure there's better picks out there in that regard, too. Furthermore, I think I'm going to put my support behind Blastoise at this point because it's really the only Poke right now that has the combination of not being absolutely deadweight against the other team and can spin. I'd consider Forretress, but overall it's really "meh" besides just being a hazard setter/spinner. The second thing that pushed my decision for Blastoise? It isn't bothered by sand. Yes, sand. Bulky CB Tyranitar could really do some damage to Team 1 right now, between Pursuit trapping and hitting Kyurem-B with Stone Edge to force a switch and get some residual damage against whatever switches in (mostly). Sandstorm isn't bothering anyone on team 2 and raises Terrakion's SpD enough where it might be able to deal with Volcarona, as well as turning Garchomp's Luck-of-the-draw 2-3HKO's into guaranteed 2HKO's on Slowbro, where in turn a +2 Outrage has a chance to OHKO.

Of course, the choice of Sand also makes the team extremely weak to Breloom, which can really only be covered by Zapdos.

 

[dragontamer74pe]

I was meaning for team 1's last Pokemon. There most likely will be a pokemon that takes on our team well like hp fire Latios if we choose the scizor and blastoise combination. There are others but making an example.
I think the Landorus U-turns as we stich to zapdos then volcarona comes in and sweeps the team if I understood it right. It does harm us a lot too as blastoise doesn't exactly beet it but limits it to killing less of our team. It does make zapdos at best a death fodder if volcarona gets selected.

 

[MMII]

I was talking about Team 1's final pick as well, if they pick something like Latios then they won't have anything to stop an easy Scizor sweep (while Latios won't be able to completely clean the team either).

Assuming SR is up (which would be reasonable as Chomp would be able to lead easily and if Volcarona was picked it would make sense) even under that scenario Blastoise can take a huge bite to force it out the only time it needs to while Scizor can sweep through the rest of the team.

 

[ganj4lF]

Alright, let's vote (pokemon 5, team 2).

• Scarf Scizor
• Scarf Jirachi
• Scarf Heracross
• Forretress
• Heatran
• Blastoise

Exclusions

Landorus-T is not in the list cause it has a slash and its primary slash is illegal as well. It also received close to no support, so I'm not making any exceptions this time.

Also, Electrolyte and DarkBlazer edited their suggestions to match alexwolf's ideas, so I didn't listed any of alexwolf's sets since they were redundant.

As usual, to vote send a PM to Melee Mewtwo; both the title and the body of the message should contain "CtP: your preference" where your preference is selected from the previous list.

You'll have a day or something to vote. Go!

 

[MMII]

Okay, so this round was a disappointment but I'm assuming that was due to the Smogon down time. I had some connection issues myself (which is why I'm so late) but hopefully this'll blow over and we'll get back into full swing this week.

• Scarf Scizor: 1
• Forretress: 2
• Scarf Jirachi: 3
• Blastoise: 4
• Total votes: 10 :/

Hide

Introducing

Blastoise (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature
- Surf
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Roar

Okay, there is only one slot left for the 6th member of Team 2. Let's make it count and seal the deal for Team 1.

 

[MMII]

I'm changing my submission to something else. (not sure yet) I'm leaving Scizor here in case anybody else wants to take it.

Double post for submission.

Scizor (M) @ Metal Coat
Trait: Technician
EVs: 236 Atk / 248 HP / 24 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Roost
- Swords Dance


What does this set do? Scizor is normally bossing around OU with his Choice Band set punishing switches with U-Turn and cleaning weakened mons/teams with his might Bullet Punch. SD Scizor abandons this hit-and-run style to pull off clean sweeps. Swords Dance skyrockets Scizor's already impressive attack stat so that his Technician boosted Bullet Punch and Bug Bite can tear through teams. Bullet Punch is a must for priority while Bug Bite is Scizor's other STAB and lets it chew through the slower tanks/walls. Roost gives Scizor some longevity as well easing setup and maybe netting it some extra boosts. Metal Coat is important for key OHKOs while not throwing away any of Scizor's HP when attacking.

Calcs

+2 236+ Atk Iron Plate Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 280-330 (87.77 - 103.44%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

+2 236+ Atk Technician Scizor Bug Bite vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 432-510 (109.64 - 129.44%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 236+ Atk Technician Scizor Bug Bite vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Jirachi: 319-376 (81.58 - 96.16%) -- 18.75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

+2 236+ Atk Iron Plate Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyurem-B: 510-602 (130.43 - 153.96%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 236+ Atk Iron Plate Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Azelf: 343-405 (117.86 - 139.17%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Kyurem-B Fusion Bolt vs. 248 HP / 24 Def Scizor: 130-154 (37.9 - 44.89%) -- 5.47% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

152 SpA Jirachi Thunder vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Scizor: 120-142 (34.98 - 41.39%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

152 SpA Jirachi Hidden Power Ground vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Scizor: 71-84 (20.69 - 24.48%) -- possible 4HKO after Stealth Rock

80 Atk Jirachi Iron Head vs. 248 HP / 24 Def Scizor: 46-54 (13.41 - 15.74%) -- possible 6HKO after Stealth Rock


+2 236+ Atk Iron Plate Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 216 HP / 4 Def Volcarona: 180-213 (49.31 - 58.35%) -- 93.75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

-2 252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Scizor: 239-286 (69.67 - 83.38%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

+2 236+ Atk Iron Plate Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 307-363 (101.99 - 120.59%) -- guaranteed OHKO

How can this set help the team? Bulky Scizor pairs up with Blastoise to handle the remaining major threats to Team 2. By checking Scarf Kyurem-B, Lati@s, Sceptile, Terrakion, Virizion and Haxorus, Scizor rounds out the team and puts immense pressure on Team 1's final pick by threatening to brush everything aside after a single SD.

What can the other team do in response to this set? Well, Team 1 only has one slot left. Jellicent jumps out as a great counter to Scizor and a spin blocker to Blastoise (ignoring Toxic) but it's easily exploited by the rest of Team 2 and can't really do much once it is in. Magnezone can trap and remove Scizor but it to is virtually dead weight against the rest of the team making it a bit too specialized. Thundurus is a legitmate threat to Team 2 as well as serving as a check to Scizor. However its Thunderbolt is too weak to OHKO a healthy Scizor and the SR weakness will quickly take its toll especially when Team 1 already runs Kyurem without a Rapid Spin user (plus Scizor can KO after just two switchins with SR up). Other faster steel resistant Pokemon (water/fire/steel types) could be used to check Scizor, however they will struggle to do much back to Team 2 considering the multiple bulky waters and Zapdos (who stops the otherwise pesky electric types). Furthermore by focusing on stopping Scizor, Team 1 gives up the ability to maintain SR on the opposing field as well as a potential sweeper tweaked to beat Team 2.

What potential additions can be made to deal with these responses? Last pick for Team 2, let's make it count.

 

[Reymedy]

Jellicent ? You can't be serious. Why would they even try to "spinblock" or "wall", at this point you get just a sweeper able to kill the enemy's team...

Like Raikou, and sweep the whole team after a CM since you got no Scarf.
Pretty sure that this CM will be easy to get by the way

 

[silenced]

Remedy does have a good point here. SubCM Raikou would be a massive threat for team 1 to deal with, being able to set up on both zapdos and blastoise (you'd have to take a big risk using roar/toxic/switching out), while at least resisting bullet punch. The game would quickly come down to who gets to set up first, and I'd be thinking raikou would get to set up first ideally, short of some clever double switching and mispredicting.

Another issue I think might be Toxicroak whose typing would shut down both blastoise and scizor, has semi-reliable recovery while just being a general nuisance to team 2 (It does force Rotom-W to choose its attack with much more care, lest it heals itself from hydro-pump).

 

[Electrolyte]

Yeah, I think we need some sort of scarfer or revenge killer, because things faster than Terrakion are massive threats. It's virtually impossible to sweep with Terrakion or Garchomp if Team 1 keeps their Kyu-B and Azelf healthy- we need a fast way to take them out, since relying on walling them to death will eventually bring our own demise.

Scizor seems like a good idea as of now because it can literally rip Team 1 to shreds if it gets a boost or two- but we have to be careful. Scizor without a boost is really quite useless, as it loses to Azelf, Slowbro, and Jirachi, and needs a boost to defeat Lando and Kyu-B. This makes it a very risky pick, as its success is dependent on how well the user plays with it and how Team 1 responds to the Pokemon. Thankfully, we can be sure that it will not contribute to the team in any negatice way, making it a solid pick (and one that I would have nominated had Melee not beat me to it)

Scizor does have a lot of other quality traits that Melee Mewtwo didn't mention, and that is why, despite the fact that it is a risky pick, I am supporting Scizor right now. Scizor really puts Team 1 in a horrible position in the hazards war. Team 1 is indoubtedly in need of hazard repellent- be it through magic bounce or spinning. (Taunt Azelf can not beat Garchomp.) Many spinners are shat on by Scizor, including defensive Donphan and Forretress. Spinners that can beat Scizor are handled by the rest of the team. Either way, by choosing to repel hazards, the opponent will be forcing themselves to pick a Pokemon that Team 2 already smashes, and Scizor takes full advantage of that.

While Remedy has a good point, I don't feel as if Scizor makes the team defensively weak. My main issues are that it might not be able to contribute in any offensive manner. If anything, I think Scizor only comtributes positively to the defensive effort by checking Kyu-B and semi-walling Jirachi. As Melee hinself covered in his post, things that can defeat Scizor are largely covered by the rest of the team, so defensive wise, the team would be solid.

Also, its priority can be used to last ditch check Azelf, Landorus, and Kyu-B, and its Steel-type bulk would help greatly in stopping a Kyu-B sweep. A scarfer can do that, yes, and would probably be better at it too, but Scarfers lack Scizor's power and sweeping ability.

 

[LilOu]

Reserving Scarf Keldeo :]

 

[gengarsnemisis]

Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hiddenpower Fire
- Psyshock/surf
- Trick

Haven't really been participating in this project, but I lurked through it a bit and it seems like scarf latios would be a pretty good choice. Efficient revenge killer that team 2 so desperately needs. Draco meteor for obvious reasons, hiddenpower fire for jirachi, the last 2 moveslots are mainly filler. Please give feedback.

 

[Lavos]

i think i've got something good here

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake

pretty standard scarftar except for eq, which hits rachi way harder than anything else ttar can do. i feel that this is more important than ib for landorus or whatever since we already have multiple ways of handling that but rachi can actually pose a threat to anything on the team with a certain amount of luck on its side. scarftar also is cool in that it has the ability to 2hko everything on the opponent's team right now with the appropriate move. ttar can force 50/50s with azelf to prevent rocks, scare out slowbro, or take a kyu-b outrage and ohko back with stone edge. it's sort of a generic set but it really really fits the team right now and i think it's the best option available to us.

 

[vyomov]

Chandelure@Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Spd/252 SpA/4 HP
- Fire Blast
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
-Trick
Chandelure actually does a lot for the team: beating Jirachi, Azelf and Slowbro all together. The main advantage Chandelure has over other picks is that Jirachi cannot just switch out for Slowbro because Chandelure can go for Shadow Ball.

I'd like opinions on Trick/HP Fighting. HP Fighting offers crucial coverage vs Terrakion and Kyurem-B and seems good here. However, Trick allows us to cripple Slowbro and prevent it from paralyzing stuff by locking it which could otherwise be dangerous.

Chandelure helps form a good core with Blastoise and Garchomp and is a good choice here because it beats out 3 mons on team 1. It also makes choices like Skarmory less viable

How can team 1 deal with this mon?
Firstly, a faster scarfer could outspeed and beat Chandelure one on one. Prime candidates for the role are Keldeo and Dugtrio, especially Keldeo because it threatens some mons on our team as well.

What can we do to prevent Chandelure from being beaten by these means(Keldeo etc)
Well, we already have a good check to Keldeo in Zapdos and Rotom-W: a locked Keldeo in Hydro Pump is walled by Rotom-W.
Chandelure can come in on a Keldeo locked in Secret Sword.

How does Chandelure pressurize team 1's last pick?
Primarily, it prevents Virizion and Skarmory, two big threats as of now. It also forces Team 1 to EITHER pick a scarfer or a faster mon(Jolteon).

 

[MMII]

Hum yeah, I had forgotten Raikou gets CM. (too bad Zappy doesn't have phaze/Toxic but then the set would have been weak to something bigger) Fortunately, Raikou also has terrible coverage moves so a bulkier Scizor could actually be used to beat it. It would lose out on the instant OHKOs but it would also find more places to setup so I'll look into it and get back to you guys.

Edit: Bisharp would actually be really cool if Terrakion and Virizion weren't already problems for the team. Umm, there are some defensive Scizor spreads that work but they all need Landorus to take some previous damage before sweeping. Sure, they can also tank an Epower but it makes it harder for Scizor to actually pull off that sweep which is a shame. Anyways, I'm looking at 76 atk / 248 hp / 184 spdef Adament with SilverPowder right now. The other thing that makes me reluctant to change it to this instead of finding something else altogether is that Scizor now can't OHKO Volca after SR. This means the bug will have to be killed before Scizor can sweep and it is already a fairly dangerous threat as it is.

 

[silenced]

Hmm, well we will probably have to go with scizor or scarf jirachi if it gets renominated. Team 2 is not HO enough to be having to sack any of their pokemon to Scarf Cube, which I feel certain would happen without a very bulky steel. Rachi and Scizor are the only two nominations which can switch in and make it pay really, or at least, the most viable two (metagross anyone? :P ).

 

[Homeslice]

At this point the only two mons I'd pick are either Scarf Latios or Scizor. Scarf Jirachi also works for me. Scarf Tyranitar and Scarf Chandelure both fail to outspeed Kyurem-B, which is exactly why Latios is a better pick. Latios is, in my opinion, the most useful Scarf mon in the game. Anyways, Latios's set should definitely be Draco Meteor/Surf/HP Fire/Trick with a modest nature. Everything else looks fine.

I don't feel like looking around to see if there's a better pick, but Team 2 is actually really Weavile weak right now. A scarfer that doesn't mind Pursuit/Ice Shard and can OHKO Weavile would be really helpful, which is why Scizor and Jirachi would work. Better coverage against the other team could help though.

Scarf Infernape looks like it could do massive damage bar Slowbro, but it has to choose based off it's nature if it wants the OHKO on Jirachi or Landy. I was thinking CC/Flare Blitz/U-Turn/HP Ice with 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe, as the 4 SpA actually does no more damage than 0 SpA on Landy with HP Ice. The problem is Infernape basically has to decide if it wants to raise it's SpA or Atk with it's nature to deal with Landorus or Jirachi, respectively. I was thinking about posting it, but want feedback from others first.

 

[MMII]

ScarfApe looks really appealing to be honest. I haven't checked the calcs but I'm assuming that the SE coverage it has on everything will pay off. Having U-Turn really helps as it keeps this whole volt-turn thing Team 2 has going which could prove to be quite pesky. We may lack a counter to Kyu B by opting for Ape but maybe Volt-Turn with SR should be enough.

 

[vyomov]

Ok, I asked for opinions on this before but received no response so I'm reposting the question here(I need to get consensus on this ASAP so that I can delete the slash and the entry becomes legal)

I'd like opinions on Trick/HP Fighting. HP Fighting offers crucial coverage vs Terrakion and Kyurem-B and seems good here. However, Trick allows us to cripple Slowbro and prevent it from paralyzing stuff by locking it which could otherwise be dangerous.

I'd also like to know whether I should run Timid or Modest Nature
This is because Timid helps me outspeed some stuff while Modest gives me a chance to OHKO Jellicent after SR.
I prefer Scarf Chandelure to Scarf Infernape for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, Team 2 already has two fearsome physical attackers, Garchomp and Terrakion but has only one Special Attacker(Zapdos has no investment and is more defensive) Rotom-W.
With Chandelure, Rotom-W can form a good Fire-Water core and can ensure that we aren't walled on the physical side.
Chandelure also gets free switch ins vs Landorus(Focus Blast), Slowbro(Flamethrower) and Azelf(Fire Blast) which Infernape has no access to: Chandelure actually becomes even more dangerous with Flash Fire.
Azelf also loses all it's scouting ability since Chandelure outspeeds and OHKOes with Shadow Ball.
We already have fighting type coverage but have no Ghost type coverage yet: with Scarf Chandelure we can beat out Slowbro and Azelf and thus ensure an advantage for Team 2.
We also have counters to potential counters to Chandelure: Blissey is taken care of by Terrakion while Dark types are beaten out by Signal beam on Rotom-W.
Rotom-W also beats out Ground types and can help take on the water types vs Chandelure as well.

However, Infernape does have the advantage of outspeeding Kyurem-B which helps, and which is why Infernape is a good choice as well and a choice I wouldn't mind seeing.

Please give me your opinions so that I can finalize the set before submitting it. Any feedback on the set is also welcome.
Thanks
Vyomov

 

[Homeslice]

Honestly, there's no reason to run HP Fighting. Kyurem-B will be taking almost the same amount from a Fire Blast, and trick let's you cripple Slowbro and helps slightly against Azelf if it uses SR. As for nature, use modest, because you hit 403 Speed and honestly not much will beat that other than a scarfer or speed booster.

I'll probably post Infernape later today, anyone have any opinions on opting for the OHKO on Landorus or Jirachi/Kyurem-B after SR? That pretty much is what determines the nature.

 

[TCTphantom]

Right now, Scizor seems like the best pick, though I am not too much of a fan of Metal Coat. Latios is good too, but Scizor screws with all of team1 after a Swords Dance and Stealth Rock...

+2 236+ Atk Metal Coat Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs 0/0 Azelf: 117.86 - 139.17% Guaranteed OHKO.

+2 236+ Atk Metal Coat Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Kyurem-B: 510-602 (130.43 - 153.96%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 236+ Atk Metal Coat Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 280-330 (87.77 - 103.44%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

+2 236+ Atk Technician Scizor Bug Bite vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Jirachi: 319-376 (81.58 - 96.16%) -- 18.75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

+2 236+ Atk Technician Scizor Bug Bite vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 432-510 (109.64 - 129.44%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

[MMII]

The problem is that Scizor and the rest of Team 2 loses to a +1 LO Raikou. I'm looking at a LO Scizor set with the standard SpDef spread but it is kinda a shame that such a deadly sweeper would have to lose his life to check a LO Raikou counterpick. I'm sure there's some niche thing I'm overlooking, maybe Bisharp wouldn't be so bad afterall.

 

[Homeslice]

Decided I'm going to post Infernape, so look for this post to be editted later. In other news, Team 2 is completely stopped by Celebi/Breloom right now, so if anyone posts a new set later, make sure you have a Fire/Flying/Ice type move somewhere in there.

 

[FrostFire]

The problem is that Scizor and the rest of Team 2 loses to a +1 LO Raikou. I'm looking at a LO Scizor set with the standard SpDef spread but it is kinda a shame that such a deadly sweeper would have to lose his life to check a LO Raikou counterpick. I'm sure there's some niche thing I'm overlooking, maybe Bisharp wouldn't be so bad afterall.

Haven't been involved in this as much as I would've liked, so sorry if I'm saying something dumb; but Raikou gets Aura Sphere, so Bisharp can be outright OHKO'd. True, Raikou has to run a Rash nature in order to use Aura Sphere, but I suppose it's something to be wary of.

Actually, I just looked at the stats, and a Rash Raikou fails to outspeed both Terrakion and Garchomp; I thought that it might beat chomp originally, but unfortunately it just misses out. So actually team 1 couldn't really afford to run Aura Sphere anyway. Wow, all of that post just to contradict myself; well I'm not deleting it now :p

Anyway, I'd probably better contribute something, though it's pretty hard right now. I do kinda like the Scizor pick (probably my favourite at the moment), though specially defensive Heatran might be kind of alright.

Heatran @Leftovers
Flash Fire
Calm - 248HP/ 252 Sp. Def/ 8 Spe

-Lava Plume
-Toxic
-Protect
-Roar

Heatran is a pretty hard stop to both Cube and Azelf at the moment, as well as only getting 3HKO'd by Jirachi (after protect and lefties), while Slowbro's scald only does 31.16 - 37.4%, allowing Heatran to protect and toxic stall it a bit. Of course, it flat out dies to Landorus-I, and it doesn't exactly put offensive pressure on team 1; but I do like how Heatran just covers up some holes at the moment. That is, Heatran alleviates the Raikou weakness, by being able to either A) toxic it or B) roar it out if it Subs (thus sustaining passive damage). It also hard stops Volcarona (an unlikely pick for team 1 b/c of SR - but nonetheless a threatening one). Honestly, I'm just not sure - what are some of the other options available for team 1's final pick? It might be easier to choose something once that's figured out.

Oh, and just realised that I didn't mention: I chose Toxic over Will-o-Wisp because it's just more useful against team 1 specifically - Slowbro and (potentially) Volcarona especially.

EDIT: Oh, just saw the post above. Yeah, you have a point about the Breloom thing. At the moment, only Garchomp can check it (Chomp can live a +2 LO Mach Punch), while Terrakion has a 56.25% chance of being OHKO'd by a +0 LO Mach punch at full health, after SR. Rotom-W and Blastoise are both creamed, and Zapdos can be outsped and Spore'd (though if you can bait a spore, THEN switch in Zapdos you may have more luck - though after an SD, Bullet Seed is doing 70.31 - 83.59%, which will mean Zappy can no longer counter Landorus-I. Ugh. So in short, yes Breloom is a problem.

Celebi isn't really though - I mean, we have Signal Beam Expert Belt Rotom-W, X-Scissor on Terrakion and I'm not exactly sure what Celebi is doing to Zapdos. Also, it'd take heavy damage from Garchomp, and would need HP ice to do a lot of damage back - or heavy Sp. Atk investment + LO Leaf Storm or something. I don't see Celebi being too much of an issue.