I am a long-time (read: close to two years) lurker and studier but had never gotten involved in competitive battling til very recently. Here's my first team. It's done decently well for me on the smogon server, and I've taken the time to rework some things already. I play Dream World tier because I love Imposter Ditto and he hasn't been released yet. Originally I had a more sandstorm-centric team of TTar, Dory, Ferrothorn, Heatran, Ditto, and Vaporeon, but I was sick of losing as soon as a fighting type was brought out (no fighting resist, five weaknesses) so I included a couple counters. I do not have a true lead, with the advent of team preview I just pick a counter to who I believe the opponent will lead with.
Thoughts?
HumaHuma (Sigilyph) (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Cosmic Power
- Psychic
- Air Slash
- Ice Beam
Sigilyph is my main fighting counter, and false lead. Air slash is there for Gallade, Herracross, Breloom and Scrafty, and extra STAB. He replaced Ferrothorn (my old lead) because of the 4x fighting resist and for being a lot less, well.. boring. I rarely ever use cosmic power (though it has done me good on occasion) but I seem to use her more as a revenge killer. My main problem with her is that she dies quickly to almost every rock move.
Cleopatra (Tyranitar) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
Tyranitar is usually my lead. I use him to set up SS for Excadrill and for his fast SE. Most teams I've played with have either Dragonite or Chandalure as their lead. She originally had dragon claw to deal with Chomp but figured that would be better done with Sigilyph's ice beam so I gave her BB for coverage, as Chomp will OHKO almost every time. I prefer pursuit over crunch to trap psychics. This Tyranitar seems pretty fragile, so Choice Scarf is there to ensure at least one attack will get in. She also works as an effective revenge killer.
Benedict (Excadrill) (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
Just a straight-forward Dory set. I use Focus Sash over Air Balloon because it seems to save it more often than Balloon might. This guy used to be my spinner, but the lack of dark coverage was hurting, so I picked up Tentacruel for a spinner and gave this guy X-Scissor. A lot of my strategy centers around taking out his counters so he can SD sweep. He has max Speed to outspeed other Dory and just be the fastest thing around. I love this thing a little too much.
Mars (Heatran) (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 160 HP / 8 Def / 252 SAtk / 8 SDef / 80 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
Hes not quite the god of war but I love him anyway. I switched to Air Balloon from Leftovers just to take away from the ground weakness of my team, and I’m not quite so afraid of Garchomp anymore. Dragon Pulse is a non-negotiable for me as it is my one reliable way to hit dragons. He is also my only poke with SR., but with him having a balloon I’m hesitant to use him as a SR lead because of the prevalence of fake out users, who make me really miss Leftovers.
NegaMew (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Imposter
EVs: 152 HP / 4 Atk / 80 Def / 4 SAtk / 16 SDef / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Transform
Ditto has been one of my favorite Pokes since Gen1 and when I found out it now has an ability that makes it viable I got really excited. This is I believe a pretty standard DW Ditto. My goal here is just for it to hit as fast as possible, while still being able to survive a couple hits. He alternates between revenge killer and lead. As a revenge killer he has been great against everything not named Suicine.
Nightmare (Tentacruel) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Def / 124 SDef / 16 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
This guy replaced my Wish Vaporeon because I wanted Dory to have more coverage. I did have HP [Flying] to hit fighting types, but Sigilyph smacked them around to the point that HP [Flying] seemed redundant. My team doesn’t have a good counter for waters now that Ferrothorn is gone, so I figured giving a water resist HP [Electric] would be more prudent. Recommendations for what to do with that move slot are appreciated. I’ve considered giga drain.
I hope my newbishness isn't too obvious. Criticism is welcome.
Thoughts?
HumaHuma (Sigilyph) (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Cosmic Power
- Psychic
- Air Slash
- Ice Beam
Sigilyph is my main fighting counter, and false lead. Air slash is there for Gallade, Herracross, Breloom and Scrafty, and extra STAB. He replaced Ferrothorn (my old lead) because of the 4x fighting resist and for being a lot less, well.. boring. I rarely ever use cosmic power (though it has done me good on occasion) but I seem to use her more as a revenge killer. My main problem with her is that she dies quickly to almost every rock move.
Cleopatra (Tyranitar) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
Tyranitar is usually my lead. I use him to set up SS for Excadrill and for his fast SE. Most teams I've played with have either Dragonite or Chandalure as their lead. She originally had dragon claw to deal with Chomp but figured that would be better done with Sigilyph's ice beam so I gave her BB for coverage, as Chomp will OHKO almost every time. I prefer pursuit over crunch to trap psychics. This Tyranitar seems pretty fragile, so Choice Scarf is there to ensure at least one attack will get in. She also works as an effective revenge killer.
Benedict (Excadrill) (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
Just a straight-forward Dory set. I use Focus Sash over Air Balloon because it seems to save it more often than Balloon might. This guy used to be my spinner, but the lack of dark coverage was hurting, so I picked up Tentacruel for a spinner and gave this guy X-Scissor. A lot of my strategy centers around taking out his counters so he can SD sweep. He has max Speed to outspeed other Dory and just be the fastest thing around. I love this thing a little too much.
Mars (Heatran) (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 160 HP / 8 Def / 252 SAtk / 8 SDef / 80 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
Hes not quite the god of war but I love him anyway. I switched to Air Balloon from Leftovers just to take away from the ground weakness of my team, and I’m not quite so afraid of Garchomp anymore. Dragon Pulse is a non-negotiable for me as it is my one reliable way to hit dragons. He is also my only poke with SR., but with him having a balloon I’m hesitant to use him as a SR lead because of the prevalence of fake out users, who make me really miss Leftovers.
NegaMew (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Imposter
EVs: 152 HP / 4 Atk / 80 Def / 4 SAtk / 16 SDef / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Transform
Ditto has been one of my favorite Pokes since Gen1 and when I found out it now has an ability that makes it viable I got really excited. This is I believe a pretty standard DW Ditto. My goal here is just for it to hit as fast as possible, while still being able to survive a couple hits. He alternates between revenge killer and lead. As a revenge killer he has been great against everything not named Suicine.
Nightmare (Tentacruel) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Def / 124 SDef / 16 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
This guy replaced my Wish Vaporeon because I wanted Dory to have more coverage. I did have HP [Flying] to hit fighting types, but Sigilyph smacked them around to the point that HP [Flying] seemed redundant. My team doesn’t have a good counter for waters now that Ferrothorn is gone, so I figured giving a water resist HP [Electric] would be more prudent. Recommendations for what to do with that move slot are appreciated. I’ve considered giga drain.
I hope my newbishness isn't too obvious. Criticism is welcome.
