dekzeh
B is for BRUTUS
Take a look at them Brutus
This team here has served me very well for the time I've used it. It's a heavy offense team that simply tries to hit as hard as possible and as fast as possible, abusing U-turns from Scyther and Mesprit to keep the momentum on my side on a 'Scout and Hit'-like strategy.
Most team members have the capacity of putting some serious hurt on anything that switches in, providing I predict correctly. Of course, since I can't always trust I'll be outpredicting my opponent, I have my tools to make my moves the less prediction-dependant possible. This is especially important since as I have 4 choice users.
Sorry if I don't get into much detail in my descprition, I try my best to explain everything, but sometimes people seem like when completely obvious stuff are explained... well I don't do that >.>
And now time to meet them...
Mesprit @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 56 HP / 216 Atk / 236 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Trick
- U-turn
- Zen Headbutt
- Stealth Rock
Mesprit is an extremely reliable lead. It beats most leads one-on-one without much trouble, sets up Stealth Rock and, if alive, gives me a great alternative later in the game for dealing with threats such as Adamant DD Feraligatr, Specs Yanmega, Moltres, Blaziken, etc.
It's main role is getting Stealth Rock down, and sometimes I might even sacrifice him for that (damn Yanmega leads). Mesprit was choosen over Uxie mostly because Uxie can't OHKO those new Roserades that run defensive EVs for Dugtrio.
Overall, Mesprit is a great lead, that can also be used to good effect later in the game. It fits the team perfectly thanks to the decently strong U-turn, which allows me to scout and act accordinly, and also due to Trick, which is sadly one of my best options to deal with bulky waters.
My EVs make it so that I outspeed Modest Scarfed Roserade and Timid Electrode, OHKOing the former and Tricking the later in order to only get 5 turns of rain instead of 8.
Tauros (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Double-edge
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Payback
Changed the nature to Adamant in order to get the much stronger hit on threats such as Milotic and Slowbro. Sometimes I do miss outspeeding Mismagius, but other then that I outspeed everything else I did with Jolly.
Tauros is indispensable to the team. Everyone knows how hard it hits, and not much stuff can take repeated attacks from it: even Slowbro risks being 2HKO'd by a Double-Edge.
It pairs perfectly with Houndoom, who is easily the best Pursuiter in tier in my opinion. Intimidate makes this thing incridebly bulky.. hell people talk about how bulky Kangaskhan is, but Tauros is even more bulky physically. So why Tauros over other normal-types? Well, it's a lot faster then Kangaskhan and a lot bulkier the Ambipom/Swellow.
Without the speed advantage over Kangaskhan I wouldn't be able to check/revenge a lot of threats I rely on Tauros too (SD Drapion, Specs Yanmega, etc). Without the bulky over Ambipom/Swellow I wouldn't be able to use it as a check for Feraligatr, Nidoqueen, SD Venusaur, etc.
Double-Edge and Frustration might seem odd, but both are needed. Frustration is the recoil-free, sweeping move while Double-Edge is only used in specificy cases, such as when I know a Slowbro is switching in, or against opponents such as Feraligatr, who is OHKO'd by Double-Edge after SR.
Scyther (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 244 Atk / 12 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Aerial Ace
- U-turn
- Brick Break
- Quick Attack
Heavy hitter number 2. Scyther is incridebly underrated, and especially good with Donphan who can spin away those rocks easily, and switch with impunity in everything that can wall Scyther.
Scyther's strong U-turn is the key to this team success, it eases prediction and put me in a win-win situation everytime Scyther comes in, which is not as hard as one might think. Consecutive U-turns rapidly wear down things such as Milotic and Donphan who think they can wall me.
Scyther serves as my main check to fighting and physical grass-types, easily OHKOing them all with Aerial Ace while 4x resisting their STAB moves. Quick Attack and Brick Break complete the set, giving me priority which is key against weakened Rock Polish Torterra, or Speed Boosted Yanmega and coverage against Rock and Steel-types if needed.
Azumarill (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Double-edge
- Superpower
Changed the EV spread to outspeed Clefable and Weezing.
Azumarill is my third heavy hitter and with its incridebly powerfull priority, the team just wouldn't be as good without it. It's my best answer and first switch into most fire types, and I also normally switch it into Milotics, threatening the 2HKO with Double-Edge, while taking around 35% from the HP Grass.
There is not much to talk about it when you all know how and why it works. I choose to forgo Ice Punch for Superpower simply for better coverage: the ability to hit Registeel and Milotic very hard with the same move eases prediction quite a lot.
Those 20 Speed EVs make me outspeed just about all others base 50's.
Donphan (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 176 HP / 244 Atk / 88 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin
- Roar
Edited with new EV spread that makes me outspeed Clefable.
Donphan, together with Houndoom, hold the team together. It's the one who takes the most hits, and my spinner of choice. Despite being primarly seen as a defensive wall, Donphan can hit like a truck. Doing over 30% to the likes of Milotic and Slowbro.
I originally had Assurance for ghost-types, but in the end I opted for Roar. Roar is an incridebly usefull move on Donphan, it has saved my ass a dozen times, and I love it even if it's just to get that little extra Stealth Rock damage on their bulky waters.
I admit that the current EV spread is very random and pretty bad. At first it had specific purposes, but I messed with it a lot since the team creation that I have no clue what everything there is for: if anyone can suggest me a good EV spread i'd appreciate, but I might just go with Max Atk, near Max HP and 20 Spd.
Houndoom (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 156 Atk / 224 Spd / 128 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
Houndoom makes Tauros' and Donphan's jobs so much easier. This scary Hellhound here is what makes the team work, Pursuiting then Rotoms and Mismagius with little to no trouble (especially against defensive variants).
I rarely want max speed to be honest, enough for Rotom is.. enough. This is because Houndoom doesn't have exactly great offensive stats, so I need to make the most out of it.
Fire Blast is what sets Houndoom apart other Pursuiters such as Drapion, Absol and Honchkrow, as it OHKO's Steelix and scares off Registeel. Dark Pulse was choosen over Crunch just for Slowbro, in case you are wondering.
Hope you enjoyed it!
This is the team I've been using with great sucess, but I'm pretty sure it can be improved, especially at dealing with bulky waters and Yanmega.
It got me to #1 in the ladder (B IS FOR BRUTUS - 1776.5392 as of 01/09/09).
This team here has served me very well for the time I've used it. It's a heavy offense team that simply tries to hit as hard as possible and as fast as possible, abusing U-turns from Scyther and Mesprit to keep the momentum on my side on a 'Scout and Hit'-like strategy.
Most team members have the capacity of putting some serious hurt on anything that switches in, providing I predict correctly. Of course, since I can't always trust I'll be outpredicting my opponent, I have my tools to make my moves the less prediction-dependant possible. This is especially important since as I have 4 choice users.
Sorry if I don't get into much detail in my descprition, I try my best to explain everything, but sometimes people seem like when completely obvious stuff are explained... well I don't do that >.>
And now time to meet them...
Mesprit @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 56 HP / 216 Atk / 236 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Trick
- U-turn
- Zen Headbutt
- Stealth Rock
Mesprit is an extremely reliable lead. It beats most leads one-on-one without much trouble, sets up Stealth Rock and, if alive, gives me a great alternative later in the game for dealing with threats such as Adamant DD Feraligatr, Specs Yanmega, Moltres, Blaziken, etc.
It's main role is getting Stealth Rock down, and sometimes I might even sacrifice him for that (damn Yanmega leads). Mesprit was choosen over Uxie mostly because Uxie can't OHKO those new Roserades that run defensive EVs for Dugtrio.
Overall, Mesprit is a great lead, that can also be used to good effect later in the game. It fits the team perfectly thanks to the decently strong U-turn, which allows me to scout and act accordinly, and also due to Trick, which is sadly one of my best options to deal with bulky waters.
My EVs make it so that I outspeed Modest Scarfed Roserade and Timid Electrode, OHKOing the former and Tricking the later in order to only get 5 turns of rain instead of 8.
Tauros (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Double-edge
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Payback
Changed the nature to Adamant in order to get the much stronger hit on threats such as Milotic and Slowbro. Sometimes I do miss outspeeding Mismagius, but other then that I outspeed everything else I did with Jolly.
Tauros is indispensable to the team. Everyone knows how hard it hits, and not much stuff can take repeated attacks from it: even Slowbro risks being 2HKO'd by a Double-Edge.
It pairs perfectly with Houndoom, who is easily the best Pursuiter in tier in my opinion. Intimidate makes this thing incridebly bulky.. hell people talk about how bulky Kangaskhan is, but Tauros is even more bulky physically. So why Tauros over other normal-types? Well, it's a lot faster then Kangaskhan and a lot bulkier the Ambipom/Swellow.
Without the speed advantage over Kangaskhan I wouldn't be able to check/revenge a lot of threats I rely on Tauros too (SD Drapion, Specs Yanmega, etc). Without the bulky over Ambipom/Swellow I wouldn't be able to use it as a check for Feraligatr, Nidoqueen, SD Venusaur, etc.
Double-Edge and Frustration might seem odd, but both are needed. Frustration is the recoil-free, sweeping move while Double-Edge is only used in specificy cases, such as when I know a Slowbro is switching in, or against opponents such as Feraligatr, who is OHKO'd by Double-Edge after SR.
Scyther (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 244 Atk / 12 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Aerial Ace
- U-turn
- Brick Break
- Quick Attack
Heavy hitter number 2. Scyther is incridebly underrated, and especially good with Donphan who can spin away those rocks easily, and switch with impunity in everything that can wall Scyther.
Scyther's strong U-turn is the key to this team success, it eases prediction and put me in a win-win situation everytime Scyther comes in, which is not as hard as one might think. Consecutive U-turns rapidly wear down things such as Milotic and Donphan who think they can wall me.
Scyther serves as my main check to fighting and physical grass-types, easily OHKOing them all with Aerial Ace while 4x resisting their STAB moves. Quick Attack and Brick Break complete the set, giving me priority which is key against weakened Rock Polish Torterra, or Speed Boosted Yanmega and coverage against Rock and Steel-types if needed.
Azumarill (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Double-edge
- Superpower
Changed the EV spread to outspeed Clefable and Weezing.
Azumarill is my third heavy hitter and with its incridebly powerfull priority, the team just wouldn't be as good without it. It's my best answer and first switch into most fire types, and I also normally switch it into Milotics, threatening the 2HKO with Double-Edge, while taking around 35% from the HP Grass.
There is not much to talk about it when you all know how and why it works. I choose to forgo Ice Punch for Superpower simply for better coverage: the ability to hit Registeel and Milotic very hard with the same move eases prediction quite a lot.
Those 20 Speed EVs make me outspeed just about all others base 50's.
Donphan (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 176 HP / 244 Atk / 88 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin
- Roar
Edited with new EV spread that makes me outspeed Clefable.
Donphan, together with Houndoom, hold the team together. It's the one who takes the most hits, and my spinner of choice. Despite being primarly seen as a defensive wall, Donphan can hit like a truck. Doing over 30% to the likes of Milotic and Slowbro.
I originally had Assurance for ghost-types, but in the end I opted for Roar. Roar is an incridebly usefull move on Donphan, it has saved my ass a dozen times, and I love it even if it's just to get that little extra Stealth Rock damage on their bulky waters.
I admit that the current EV spread is very random and pretty bad. At first it had specific purposes, but I messed with it a lot since the team creation that I have no clue what everything there is for: if anyone can suggest me a good EV spread i'd appreciate, but I might just go with Max Atk, near Max HP and 20 Spd.
Houndoom (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 156 Atk / 224 Spd / 128 SAtk
Hasty nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
Houndoom makes Tauros' and Donphan's jobs so much easier. This scary Hellhound here is what makes the team work, Pursuiting then Rotoms and Mismagius with little to no trouble (especially against defensive variants).
I rarely want max speed to be honest, enough for Rotom is.. enough. This is because Houndoom doesn't have exactly great offensive stats, so I need to make the most out of it.
Fire Blast is what sets Houndoom apart other Pursuiters such as Drapion, Absol and Honchkrow, as it OHKO's Steelix and scares off Registeel. Dark Pulse was choosen over Crunch just for Slowbro, in case you are wondering.
Hope you enjoyed it!
This is the team I've been using with great sucess, but I'm pretty sure it can be improved, especially at dealing with bulky waters and Yanmega.
It got me to #1 in the ladder (B IS FOR BRUTUS - 1776.5392 as of 01/09/09).