Dungeons, Dragons, and Mushrooms Of Doom [Peaked at 1456 CRE]

[WarriorPrince]

Dungeons, Dragons, and Mushrooms of DOom!!!

Intro
After nearly a year hiatus from competitive battling I decided that I should give the leaderboard another shot. In March-May 2009 I fell just a few CRE short of the leaderboard at around 1512 CRE using a team similar to Panamaxis’ #1 Team. Over the next few weeks, I battled and battled, but I would always get within a few CRE points of the leaderboard and start losing. I decided to quit competitive battling as a result. One year later, I am in the same situation. If I quit this time, I probably won’t return because I am starting college soon. I created this team yesterday and after a few hours of battling this team peaked at 1456 CRE under the account CronusX2. It is still hovering at around 1410-1450, but I need an extra push to reach the leader board. So guys, what do you say?? Rate my team!!

*Dragonite and Breloom are very important to the team will not readily be replaced.

At a Glance​

Heatran (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
Evs: 252 SAtk/252 Spe/4 SpD
Naive Nature
Overheat
Earth Power
Stealth Rock
Hidden Power [Grass]

Comments: Heatran is an amazing Pokemon, this guy throws the momentum my way from the start. He usually starts the match off with a flat out KO. I can then bring him out later to handle slow, bulky opponents.

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
Evs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Iron Head
Ice Punch
Trick
Thunder Punch

Comments: Jirachi is my oh-snap button. When I think I may be about to get into serious trouble, I switch to Jirachi. He handles Gyrados and Dragonite after they have set up, and tricking a Scarf on a wall practically renders them useless for the remainder of the match

Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Evs: 248 HP/252 Atk/8 Spe
Adamant Nature
U-turn
Bullet Punch
Superpower
Pursuit

Comments: With Salamence’s departure from the Standard metagame, Scizor is not as crucial as he used to be; however, Scizor is still an excellent scout and revenge killer. Scizor can function as the glue for many teams. Scizor is a solid Pokemon and performs his role well, but for some reason I feel he should be more deadly.

Dragonite (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
Evs: 88 Hp/218 Atk/204 Spe
Adamant Nature
Dragon Dance
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Roost

Comments: I expected Dragonite to perform as if he was the best bulky sweeper in the game, and he has done exactly that. Resisted attacks just bounce off of Dragonite and he can set up on most pokemon lacking a move that’s hits him super effectively. By the time I unleash this beast from the ranks, Scizor is already disposed of and Dragonite is free to just spam Dragon Claw and Earthquake. I can also switch him a bit more than the Gyarados because of Roost. Most of the times I am satisfied with Dragonite, but there have been a few times when I wished I had Extremespeed or a Life Orb. Dragonite also synergizes with Jirachi, and Heatran.

Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Evs: 152 HP/36 Atk/92 Def/228 Spd
Jolly Nature
Dragon Dance
Taunt
Waterfall
Bounce

Comments: Gyarados is my deadliest sweeper. He sets up in the face of almost anything that relies on status/etc to stop him. Gyarados has swept more teams than any other member of my team. A combination of Taunt/ Dragon Dance allows me to set up on defensively oriented teams like nobody’s business. Only Rotom, Vaporeon, and Jolteon give me problems while setting up. Jolteon and Rotom are only bothersome if they switch in while I Dragon Dance. I have considered running Jolly Offensive Gyarados, but I fear I will lack the power I need. Gyrados, Breloom, and Heatran are my Water/ Fire/ Grass core and are excellent individual players as well. Gyarados is a hell of a pokemon, but Stealth Rock limits the amount of switching I can do.

Shaymin (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
Evs: 32 Hp/252 SAtk/224 Spe
Timid Nature
Seed flare
Hidden power [ICE]
Earth Power
Rest

Comments: Shaymin is the third element in my F/W/G core and an essential member to my team. Stab Seed Flare with a 40% chance of a SP. Def drop is scary, and allows me to defeat even Blissey. Scizor is a problem for Shaymin, but the rest of my team handles him easily. Shaymin prevents me from getting swept by Jolteon and he handles all Scarfed Rotom forms except Rotom-H with Seed Flare.

Replaced members

Breloom (F) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Evs: 12 Hp/252 Atk/244 Spe
Adamant Nature
Spore
Focus Punch
Seed Bomb
Substitute

Comments: Breloom is a true force to be reckoned with. Breloom is one of the most predictable Pokemon there is, yet he catches so many teams off guard. For the most part, Breloom is the most stable member of the team. She usually gets me 1-2 kills unless the opponent has already battle me. I am considering using Leech Seed in place of Seed Bomb because Seed Bomb is rarely useable. Breloom runs into serious issues when facing Dragonite and so does the rest of my team. I feel that needs to be addressed.

*I would've elaborated a bit more, but I didn't want to put off raters with hoards of text.

 

[afterburn]

Hey there, sweet team you've got, I'll rate it to hopefully make it better.

Problems
Life Orb Starmie, Life Orb Shaymin, opposing FWG core

How they're threats
Starmie can come in on Scizor locked into Bullet Punch, and fire of Hydro Pumps, that will surely dent Scizor, Heatran, Jirachi, while Dragonite and Breloom are handled by a SE Ice Beam, and Gyarados with ThunderBolt. Your best bet is to explode Heatran right there on the spot vs Starmie, which leads to another problem; Starmie and Shaymin are often paired together in this metagame, to form a Fire/water/Grass core with a fire type Pokemon, so if you explode on Starmie, Shaymin can come in and Scizor is basically the only thing on your team that can stop it. Now my concern for the team is, that an opposing Fire/Water/Grass core can decimate your team if given the chance. If you've exploded on Starmie, Shaymin will wreck havoc, with only Scizor stopping it, which an opposing Heatran can stop, being a key component in most FWG cores. As you mentioned, Dragon Dance Dragonite can be a problem too, even more if Jirachi has tricked its Scarf, as repeated Iron Heads aren't always the way to go, no matter how tempting those flinches look.

Solutions
To handle the weakness to the FWG core, I suggest you try out, a Life Orb Shaymin yourself. This hedgehog lands a super effectove hit on every member of the FWG core; Starmie/Suicune with Seed Flare, (non-scarf)Heatran with Earth Power, and opposing Shaymin shouldn't be too much of a problem between heatran and Scizor. You could also give Shaymin HP Ice to handle Dragonite as you mentioned. Give the set try:

Shaymin (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
Evs: 32 Hp/252 SAtk/224 Spe
Timid Nature
Seed flare
Hidden power [ICE]
Earth Power
Rest

Also, IF Dragonite does set-up a dragon dance on Heatran locked into Earth Power or Scizor locked into Super Power it may be a bit of a problem, but you can play around it with gyarados's intimidate, but that isn't always safe if you get outpredicted. I think you should make Heatran the lead, slap a Life Orb onto it, and give it a Modest nature, with your current spread, and the moves, Stealth Rock, OverHeat, EarthPower, HiddenPower Grass, this will handle opposing Machamp with overheat (75% to OHKO outright), and now you can save jirachi and its scarf in case a bigger threat like DDNite comes up, then you can send in Jirachi to kill it. For Jirachi, try Jolly, 252atk/252spe, obviously with a chociescarf, and the moves iron head/thunder punch/ice punch/trick. trick is always nice to cripple cocky set-uppers. In general, Jirachi will be your, "O-SHIT" button, Thunder Punch over Fire Punch to handle Starmie better, since it looks like Lucario is already covered by Gyarados, and Scizor's Bullet Punch should handle it after Close Combat defense drops.

All in all, great team, and GL

 

[WarriorPrince]

Hey there, sweet team you've got, I'll rate it to hopefully make it better.


Solutions
To handle the weakness to the FWG core, I suggest you try out, a Life Orb Shaymin yourself. This hedgehog lands a super effectove hit on every member of the FWG core; Starmie/Suicune with Seed Flare, (non-scarf)Heatran with Earth Power, and opposing Shaymin shouldn't be too much of a problem between heatran and Scizor. You could also give Shaymin HP Ice to handle Dragonite as you mentioned. Give the set try:

Shaymin (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
Evs: 32 Hp/252 SAtk/224 Spe
Timid Nature
Seed flare
Hidden power [ICE]
Earth Power
Rest

Also, IF Dragonite does set-up a dragon dance on Heatran locked into Earth Power or Scizor locked into Super Power it may be a bit of a problem, but you can play around it with gyarados's intimidate, but that isn't always safe if you get outpredicted. I think you should make Heatran the lead, slap a Life Orb onto it, and give it a Modest nature, with your current spread, and the moves, Stealth Rock, OverHeat, EarthPower, HiddenPower Grass, this will handle opposing Machamp with overheat (75% to OHKO outright), and now you can save jirachi and its scarf in case a bigger threat like DDNite comes up, then you can send in Jirachi to kill it. For Jirachi, try Jolly, 252atk/252spe, obviously with a chociescarf, and the moves iron head/thunder punch/ice punch/trick. trick is always nice to cripple cocky set-uppers. In general, Jirachi will be your, "O-SHIT" button, Thunder Punch over Fire Punch to handle Starmie better, since it looks like Lucario is already covered by Gyarados, and Scizor's Bullet Punch should handle it after Close Combat defense drops.

All in all, great team, and GL

This is a great idea. I will definitely play test it. Shaymin over Breloom, right??

 

[BKC]

I'm not the greatest of team raters, but just posting to say I agree with The Legend Killer's suggestions.

Also, Jirachi can't flinch Dragonite to death, cos Dnite has Inner Focus.

 

[IronBullet]

Hey,

I fully support the change to Shaymin, as offensive Water types really ruin your team. The all-out attacking set mentioned by LegendKiller is probably the best choice for your team. Since the removal of Breloom makes you a bit Stall weak, I'd suggest trying out a Life Orb Taunt Heatran over your current set. This guy rapes Stall singlehandedly, taunting Blissey into oblivion and then ripping through the rest. The moveset I'd suggest is Fire Blast/Earth Power/HP Grass/Taunt. You can also go with HP Electric for Gyarados, but HP Grass gets the OHKO on Swampert. It's up to you.

The lack of a solid Electric resist is a bit troubling, and it means that powerful Electric attackers such as Specs Rotom and Jolteon can cause problems. Dragon Dancers such as Kingdra and Dragonite are also major problems for your team. They simply DD up, Rest/Roosting when necessary, and proceed to destroy your team with boosted Outrages. To fix this, I'd suggest trying out a Scarf Flygon in place of Dragonite. You do lose a powerful sweeper, but gain a very valuable and speedy revenge killer, who also helps out with DD Gyarados. The set I'd recommend is Outrage/Earthquake/U-turn/Thunderpunch, with an Adamant nature for extra power. It already outspeeds whatever it needs to anyway.

Nice team, and gl!

 

[Human]

Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 152 HP/36 Atk/96 Def/224 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

For Gyarados I would recommend this set.
This lets you out speeds Jolteon, and Scarfed Heatran, both normally switch in to Thunderbolt/HP Electric/Explode on Gyarados to stop its sweep, leaving the only reliable Gyarados counter Rotom-A and HP Electric Vaporeon (even though it 2HKOs with HP Electric). If you use the Shaymin set people suggested earlier you can counter Rotom-A with a Seed Flare which normally OHKOs it. You do not really lose anything as well. The 152 HP EVs give you a Leftovers number for the HP, but remains 1 higher so you can switch in more. You keep the same bulk from the Bulky DD Gyarados set as well.

I would also use a set from a RMT for Dragonite which basically is the same other than it has 88 HP EVs and dumps the rest into attack, this gives you much more offensive capabilities, especially seeing that Dragonite is a very important part in your offensive core.

Also I support the change from Breloom to Shaymin/Celebi because 5/6 of your team are physical attackers and a special attacker is always useful, and lets you sweep with you Dragon Dancing Offensive Core.

 

[WarriorPrince]

I've made most of the changes suggested. I am only loosing to Starmie, but the guys that I am battling almost always have one. Any suggestions.

 

[WarriorPrince]

Need more feedback. The team is performing better, but it dropped a little because I didn't play for a while.

 

[NightShadow]

I think you need a spinner, since SR is really hurting this team (two weak). Either Forry or Starmie would make a good choice. Forry if you want more hazards along with spinning, or Starmie if you want to keep your offensive momentum.