Dogbirds (Peak #1)

Dogbirds



Introduction

Hello everyone! I am back with another rmt after not having made one for several months. This is an LC team which has been very successful for me getting me first place under the alt "The Noivern" at 45-0. However, the highest the team had peaked was 2198 ACRE with a record of 80-2. The team also has the 7th place on the alt "Mentorship" going 45-4. While its very true that ladder rankings aren't always accurate when measuring a teams effectiveness it does still show that this team is quite solid. The team is a balanced team focusing on being able to wall many common Pokémon in the metagame while providing support in the form of status, Knock Off, U-turn, etc and being able to apply offensive pressure on the opponents team. Anyone who knows me well knows I have an obsession with Tirtouga and I wanted to start off with him. I added in a Nasty Plot Misdreavus because of its ability to wear down the walls that otherwise put a halt on a Tirtouga sweep. I knew I needed a good defensive core, so I chucked in Staryu, Porygon and Larvesta which is a pretty good defensive core in the metagame. I added in Mienfoo last for its ability to just fit well on almost every team being a decent check to Scraggy, a great pivot and it provides utility in the form of Knock Off and priority Fake Out. This team did have some huge problems though, Mainly Drilbur could destroy me in sand and a lot of powerful shell smashers could break through my defensive core. So I changed Larvesta for Foongus because of Foongus's ability to check sand while still providing a Fighting-type resist. Misdreavus was also changed to a Choice Scarf set because it can outspeed many +2 shell smashers that destroy this team like Clamperl, Tirtouga, Omanyte and Shellder. Staryu was also booted out of the team for Drilbur, which was great because it provided me with Stealth Rock, made me less weak to Magnemite and Mold Breaker Earthquake in so awesome!
The name of the rmt and the nicknames of my Pokémon don't have a serious meaning. Dogbirds was the name of a social group and IRC channel I made for fun and I asked people on my IRC channel what Pokémon they wanted to be nicknamed after. So with that heres the team!


Team at a Glance


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cbt
(Porygon) @ Eviolite​
Trait: Trace​
Level: 5​
EVs: 236 HP / 196 Def / 76 SDef​
Calm Nature​
- Tri Attack​
- Thunder Wave​
- Shadow Ball​
- Recover​
Porygon is one of my favourite Pokémon in LC and I think that it is honestly a top tier threat. Infact, most of the games that I lost were a result of the opponent getting a critical hit on Porygon or a freeze with Snovers Blizzard -_- Basically Porygon is here to make sure that many of the tiers top offensive threats can't sweep my team. It handles Misdreavus, Abra, Snover and even to an extent Murkrow all quite well with its insane bulk and access to Recover. I think Shadow Ball is much better than Ice Beam or Thunderbolt or anything else because it lets you beat Misdreavus. Porygon also provides great support in the form of Thunderwave and along with Foongus's Stun Spore, my team can spread around paralysis quite effectively. Although coming from no special attack investment, Tri Attack hits surprisingly hard sometimes and it provides Porygon with a great Stab. The EVs are to provide Porygon with excellent mixed bulk.​

Hulavuta
(Misdreavus) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SAtk / 240 Spd
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Nasty Plot
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Trick

If there is one thing I learnt from using this team it is that Choice Scarf Misdreavus is such a cool set which opposing teams are often not prepared for especially with the addition of Nasty Plot on the set ;). As I mentioned earlier a Choice Scarf Misdreavus is capable of outspeeding +2 Clamperl, Shellder, Omanyte, and Tirtouga. Out of all the battles I have done with this team I don't remember ever being swept by one of these Pokémon. People just don't expect Misdreavus to be faster than their shell smashers and just leave them in there to get KO'd. Another common scenario is my Misdreavus revenge killing an Abra or Misdreavus after is has been weakened by Porygon. People leave in their pokemon thinking they have a chance of winning the speed tie when there is no speed tie at all! Finally another great thing about this set is Trick. Trick lets Misdreavus cripple common switch ins like Lileep and Porygon making the two much easier to be broken through with Tirtouga. Shadow Ball and Hidden Power [Fighting] provide unrestisted coverage and although Nasty Plot looks very weird on a Choice Scarf Pokémon, I have found it more useful then Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt only hits Murkrow, Staryu and Shell Smashers super effectively. A well played Murkrow will always beat Misdreavus, after a Shell Smasher is at +2 its usually weak enough to die to a Shadow Ball and Staryu.. well its not even ohko'd by Thunderbolt! Nasty Plot is also situational but its a fun little gimmick and it lets Misdreavus set up on Pokémon like Bronzor or Wynuat and if its healthy it can let it come in later to break through walls that hinder Tirtouga.
Electrolyte
(Mienfoo) @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 156 HP / 76 Atk / 196 Def / 76 Spd
Impish Nature
- Drain Punch
- U-turn
- Fake Out
- Knock Off
If there is an award for "Pokemon that is the easiest to fit into a team" then I am sure Mienfoo would win it. It is a great pivot with decent bulk, U-turn and Regenerator letting it regain HP. My Favourite move on the set would have to be Knock Off. Because it wears down the Pokemon that commonly switch in to it like Foongus, Misdreavus and the ability to remove Eviolites is just nice in general because is makes my team tougher to handle on the offensive side of things. Mienfoo is also a pretty good Scraggy check Koing it with Fake Out + Drain Punch. Having a Fighting Stab on my team is very important because without it Lileep and Ferroseed become so tough to handle. Drain Punch not only gives me a way of threatening them, but a good Stab which also provides recovery. Fake Out is the least used move. But it is useful just to get some chipping damage and to revenge kill Sturdy Pokémon like Shell Smash Dwebble and Shell Smash Tirtouga. A defensive ev spread is used so Mienfoo can have good longetivity and so it can beat Pawnaird and Scraggy reliably.
Jukain
(Drilbur) @ Eviolite
Trait: Mold Breaker
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 212 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Drilbur provides two useful forms of support. Rapid Spin and Stealth Rock. With these two moves Drilbur can remove entry hazards on my side of the field and set up Stealth Rocks, to weaken my opponents pokemon. This is great because my defensive core of Foongus , Mienfoo and Porygon cause a lot of switches so Stealth Rock does wonders to wear them down. Earthquake is such a powerful Stab move and it is amazing how much people forget about Mold Breaker letting Drilbur KO their Gastly or Bronzor with Earthquake. Rock Slide isn't used too much but it is useful to damage Murkrow and Flying-types that are immune to Earthquake.
Cxinlee
(Foongus) @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 124 HP / 156 Def / 76 SAtk / 76 SDef / 76 Spd
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Stun Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
After removing Larvesta for Foongus I realised just how good this thing is. It is the MVP in a lot of my games and I often lead with it because it basically gives me a free kill with Spore and it counters Mienfoo which is a very common lead, especially since Porygon is the first Pokemon in the team preview. Its bulk and typing let it take on many sweepers including Scraggy, Timburr, Drilbur (lacking LO) and Sandshrew. Giga Drain helps immensely in dealing with sand and along with Regenerator, it keeps Foongus healthy throughout the match. Honestly, I believe that Spore Is best move in the game. A 100% accurate sleep move is pretty damn good and a snoozing Pokemon is easy set up bait for Tirtouga. Stun Spore provides more status support and can also make setting up much easier for Tirtouga. Clear Smog was chosen instead of Sludge Bomb because without it Timburr and to an extent Scraggy can sweep my team.

Dcae
(Tirtouga) @ Eviolite
Trait: Solid Rock
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 212 Atk / 12 Def / 76 SDef / 180 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
Here it is! My favourite LC Pokémon Shell Smash Tirtouga is one of the best set up sweepers in the game. It is one of the only set up sweepers that can set up in the face of Murkrow and Drilbur in sand. Aqua Jet also lets me bypass Sucker Punch and 'outspeed' Drilbur in sand. This is a more bulky variant of the Shell Smash Tirtouga and honestly its much better. It can live many hits even after a shell smash like Misdreavus Hidden Power [Fighting] and Mienfoo Drain Punch. It is able to set up a Shell Smash even with entry hazards and hail up unlike the Sturdy set, it can live a HP Grass from 80 Spa LO Murkrow with it doing around 80%. The only thing this set does miss out on really is ohkoing defensive Mienfoo. Since there is not Splash Plate, Waterfall is much better than Aqua Tail and frankly I like Waterfall much better. You can imagine how bad it is for your bood pressure when you have a Shell Smashed pokemon on low HP having to rely on a Stab with 90% accuracy. Waterfalls higher accuracy for the price of lower power is worth it. Speaking of stupid accuracy, Stone Edge is Tirtouga's other stab and is very powerful. Between Stone Edge and Aqua Jet you can really play mind games with the opponents Murkow. Although this team was built with Tirtouga in mind, it only sweeps about 5-10% of the time. However it is useful in most of my battles whether it be for beating Murkrow, or setting up a Shell Smash a little early to weak the opponents team if I don't need Tirtouga for later on. Tirtouga along with Foongus ensures that I can beat sand with smart play.​
Conclusion
So That is my team! I hope you enjoyed my rmt if you did please like/luvdisc, rate, whatever. Also I just got my Team Rater Alumunus. The last rmt I made was way back in November 2012 when I was awarded my Team Rater. So I guess this rmt is a thank you to the people of Rate My Team that have helped me while I have been contributing there you guys are really cool. Shoutout to the people at #dogbirds as well since they are pre cool.
Final Glance
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This is a pretty awesome team, and it takes a lot of skill to do weatherless teams. I don't get clear smog as foongus doesn't need that. It would rather spore or stun spore and since most of them are water, deal damage with giga drain. But once they are set up, foongus doesn't really stand a chance and I would replace it with sludge Bomb. Though it doesn't really matter. Great team!

EDIT- Just saw the reasoning for it, and it's pretty solid, your team is pretty weak to scraggy.
 
Hey thanks for the kind words. Yeah Clear Smog removes stat boosts so without it Bulk Up Timburr will be able to sweep my team pretty easily getting set up oppurtunities on all of my pokemon. A well played Scraggy with Knock Off can be threatening but between Foongus and Mienfoo, Scraggy can't really sweep my team unless it is really weakened.

On a side note I have been testing Nasty Plot>Thunderbolt on Misdreavus and while it does look pretty stupid its actually quite fun. I rarely found myself using Thunderbolt since Murkrow can beat me anyway and that Shadow Ball probably is enough to finish off shell smashers after there defense drops. Nasty Plot may let me nab a kill or two after I have Tricked my scarf away. Its situational yeah but so is thunderbolt

Edit: Here is a replay of trick scarf missy in action http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-lc-38775344

Edit: here is another one http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-lc-38781293
 

Hulavuta

keeps the varmints on the run
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Hey Superpowerdude, not much to say except nice team and congratulations on getting #1!

The replay links you posted are actually links to the battles themselves, not the replays. And they expire after 15 minutes of inactivity :|
 
If SPD shared the replay for them, you can get the URL of the replay as you know the general format of SHowdown replay URLs, and the ID of the battle
 

Electrolyte

Wouldn't Wanna Know
is a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
WOOFCACKAW

I'm glad you made the switch from TBolt --> Nasty Plot, because I agree, Trick + NP sets are the bomb. I know you prefer Scarf, but I'm still going to go ahead and suggest that you try Choice Specs instead, as CSpecs tends to fuck Missy switch ins more than Scarf (ie, Porygon, Scraggy, Murkrow, etc) However, if you prefer Scarf for revenge killing that's cool too.

Other than that, this team is very solid. Nice job in making an LC team succeed without a Tree or a Hippopotamus!
 
this team is really solid. porygon is super underrated; takes hits like a boss and hits like a truck. the only thing I could really think of doing is making drilbur more bulky on the special side to take hits from things like missy, abra, and porygon, but that's really personal preference. I find that the speed isn't really that useful on mold breaker drilbur, but I'm sure it comes in handy once in a while.

other than that, nice team. congrats on the peak. :)
 

dcae

plaza athénée
is a defending SCL Championis a Past SCL Champion
Well you've gotten nothing but good comments. Gonna have to bring your head down from the clouds now ;) ;);););)

This is one of the most solid balanced LC teams of BW2. Very well built and the central defensive core is almost impossible to break, which is why when the team is well played, hax is irrelevant, and thus proves your great ladder streaks, which weren't because you avoided hax, but because your team doesn't care about it.

Now although this is a really great team, you have a few weaknesses. The biggest one is that your team depends entirely on the unbreakability of your main core, so thus losing Eviolite breaks your core. When I mirror matched you using that team, I Knock Offed your entire team and then you could be swept by anything. Thus, a simple well-played Mienfoo can tear your core to pieces. This is the biggest issue your team has at the moment. The other weakness is MixKrow, which threatens almost every team in LC. It can 2HKO every mon in your main defensive core, especially Porygon, which is the only thing able to take its moves then paralyze.

Having highlighted the threats, the problem is that your team is so tied together that moving a couple pieces of the puzzle would break it. There is one suggestion I can make to deal with MixKrow, and that is to switch your Porygon's nature to Bold instead of Calm to be able to take Brave Birds/Drill Pecks better. Using Bold actually allows you to avoid the 2HKO from Drill Peck, which is the more common move. However, this lessens how well it takes on Chinchou/Snover, but I think you can afford to make this change. To deal with Knock Off, there is honestly nothing to be done but to try to avoid getting your team weakened like that, and try to play around it, and abuse Trick on Misdreavus.

Overall, this is a truly topnotch team, and I hope I helped.
 
wow thanks for the comments / rates guys :P

@DrShellgon and Hulavuta thanks for pointing that out, I will try and get some replays of scarf missy wrecking shit soon.

@Electrolyte WOOFKACKAW Thanks for the rate bro. I know Trick Specs is actually really good and I will try it. I agree its more effective then Scarf but the reason I have scarf is because it gives me a revenge killer and powerful shell smashers can break through my defensive core. Still as I said its worth testing.

@Pen Ink thanks for the kind words! I will play around with Drilburs ev spread because your right 17 speed isn't necessary although it can be very useful.

@Dcae thanks for the rate :) I completely agree with you a well played Mienfoo is threatening but with smart play I can definitely play around it. 4 of my teams losses were against ShinyAzelf (BVB Dortmund) who used his Mienfoo very well and the match at we had you were also using your Mienfoo well. Yes Mixkrow is also a big threat so I will try Bold. Although Bold will make Porgons job harder against Snover, Abra and Misdreavus it can still take them on if its healthy and misdreavus can revenge kill these three
 

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