Enter Paralysis! Bromoonguss Shows its Face!

[doughboy]

Enter Paralysis!

Hi everyone. I have been playing with many variations of this team for a long time. I really have enjoyed playing with it and I need to move on xD Anyway, the idea for this team came around during the end of the Genesect era going into Tornadus-T's / Deo-D's era, where the metagame was heavily inclined to offense. The idea that I came up with was that the best was to counteract the extremely fast paced offensive teams was to just slow them down with paralysis. Without their high speed and with the chance of disability, offense teams would be robbed of their momentum that they relied upon. A team relying on paralysis would also require a reliable defensive core that could spread paralysis throughout the match easily as well as respond to the top threats. Eventually, the team developed around the idea of disrupting your opponent's strategy. Lo' and behold here is the "final" version of the team I have here today!

Team Building Process

This team went through so many stages it would bore me and you if I listed them all. I think by giving you me starting point should give you a good enough idea of how this operates.

The three Pokemon above have been staple for almost every iteration of this team. I began with the classic Amoonguss+Slowbro core since it shut down such a large amount of threats, specifically every single Fighting-type in the tier. In addition, since both have Regenerator, they both can comfortably spread paralysis throughout the match. However, Slowbro and Amoonguss get destroyed by Lati@s, especially those with Psyshock. Originally I had Jirachi in the third slot, since it complimented Amoonguss' and Slowbro's ability to spread paralysis. After a period of time however, I switched out Jirachi for Tyranitar. Overall I found that Sand support was necessary to prevent Amoonguss from getting 2HKO'ed with SR! by Spec's Keldeo's rain Hydro Pump and getting worn down by other powerful water attacks. Tyranitar was also extremely helpful against Sun (really disrupting any weather) while Jirachi was not. Originally I had a Specially Defensive variant with Thunder Wave, but I now have a more offensively inclined Tyranitar. The end result of all the developments is this:

The Team

Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off

Slowbro is one of the most physically bulky Pokemon around, and its ability to completely stop Terrakion consistently made it the starting point of this team. Overall Slowbro makes a great check to physical threats that cause a lot of trouble such as Mamoswine, Terrakion, Landorus-T, and physical Dragons. Originally I had Psyshock over Ice Beam to hit Terrakion and Conkeldurr hard. However, Scald does just fine hitting Terrakion and no one uses Conkeldurr. In addition, Ice Beam is critical for hitting Dragons that Slowbro can check. With Ice Beam, Slowbro takes a lot of pressure off of Bronzong for checking Dragon types. Ice Beam is useful to hit other miscellaneous stuff like Celebi / Thundurus-T that are willing to switch in and it OHKO's Landorus-T.

Slowbro also holds the job of spreading paralysis to the opposing team, and it does a great job of doing just that. Slowbro can keep its health high until the end of the game with Regenerator+Slack Off, so it can throw out paralysis consistently. Speaking of Slack Off, I decided to use it over Flamethrower because Regenerator alone is not enough to check powerful threats multiple times throughout the match. With Slack Off, Slowbro more easily checks Dragons, Mamoswine, and Landorus-T. Overall a great Pokemon that should be OU.​

Amoonguss (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 32 SAtk / 224 SDef (IV of 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe)
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Spore
- Stun Spore
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Another Pokemon that is OU in my book (certainly holds more relevance to it than stuff like Vaporeon ;.; ). Amoonguss is the second Pokemon that spreads paralysis on my team and is the crucial stop towards Rain Offense on my team. Spore is a godsend to check threats or really disrupt an opponent's strategy. It is a great feeling when Amoonguss' Spore gives you the upperhand by nullifying a Pokemon completely. If Celebi tries to absorb Spore, it will meet its demise with Tyranitar's Pursuit. Stun Spore is used as a follow up to Spore in order to cripple a second target. Stun Spore also means I can paralyze targets that I might not have otherwise been able to with Thunder Wave (especially Thunderus-T and Landorus-I), since it is a Grass-type move.

Giga Drain is necessary to hit water-types of course and just get the extra bit of recovery. To account for HP Fire's SpA IV drop, I use 32 Special Attack EV's to continue to break a +2 CM Keldeo's Substitute. Hidden Power Fire is an unorthodox choice, but has great use against Ferrothorn. With HP Fire as well as Sand, Ferrothorn on rain teams can not chose to soak up my paralysis all day and proceed to set hazards up in my face. It still hits Breloom super-effectively and I got Dragons really well cover with Bronzong+Ttar and Slowbro+Intimidate Landorus-T, so why the hell not run it? Black Sludge is used to cripple Tricking Rotom-W with Sand+Sludge that might cripple me. Since Amoonguss is my primary check to Rotom-W and it recovers through switching, not a move, I feel I am pretty safe using Black Sludge.

Is there a Hidden Power Fire spread that could allow me to keep my Speed IV? With a preserved Speed IV + 4 EV's I could have a way to stop Lead Forretress.​

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower

In my eyes, Tyranitar is the heart of the team because its massive offensive presence, weather, and its ability to facilitate my sweepers, well, sweeps. Sand Stream makes sure Sun and Rain can not have a field day with my team, and it prevents Amoonguss from getting worn down from powerful water attacks (yes it outweighs Sludge recovery). At the time of Deoxys-D it could only allow Deo-D to get SR up right from the bat and I would be pretty safe from a fighting type sweep if something switched in or tried to setup on Crunch.

Tyranitar's primary purpose is to rip through the opponent's defenses. Stone Edge is monstrously powerful and is extremely useful for getting Skarmory into the range of getting KO'ed by Landorus-T +2 Stone Edge. Crunch of course is a secondary STAB to get Psychics, but most of the time I just end up clicking Pursuit anyway. Choice Band Pursuit is hilariously good with Paralysis support, since you can start to pick off a huge range of targets. Weakend weather starters, Thunderus-T, and some other stuff like Roserage have gone along with Psychics on the hit list with Tyranitar's Pursuit. Tyranitar supports Lucario's sweep since most faster Psychic's, paticularly Latios, fall to his Pursuit. I feel pretty free to spam Pursuit since Amoonguss and Slowbro stop almost all Fighting-types. Superpower was put in the last slot to prevent Ferrothorn having an opportunity to set hazards up on me. At one point though I ran Aqua Tail to hit Gliscor that could stop Landorus-T. I use 88 Speed EV's to hit 180 in order not to get trolled by certain Jellicent (though I think I could run a tiny it more).​

Lucario (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Vacuum Wave

Nasty Plot Lucario is an unorthodox sweeper, but I have found it a great match on my team. I thought priority would be useful to revenge threats that I would not be able to paralyze. Originally I had a Bulky Swords Dance Scizor in this slot (I hate Life Orb ones), but I latter switched it out to SD Lucario, then to NP Lucario. Lucario does a splendid job of taking down teams with Tyranitar's Pursuit support and it can even punch holes without a boost. Most stall teams fall flat on their faces once they encounter this because who the fuck uses NP Lucario? I also used NP Lucario so a "single" physical wall could not ruin my offensive core; particularly Hippowdon/Gliscor if I went with Crunch or Jellicent with troll speed if I went with Ice Punch. I chose Dark Pulse over Shadow Ball if I ever needed to paraflinch a target. Terrakion will meet Vacuum Wave or Slowbro if it gets a Justified boost.

Essentially Lucario is here to take down unsuspecting defensive teams, add priority to the team, and be able to take down a physical wall if need be. However, I would say Lucario is the most replaceable member of my team and I have even considered switching back to SD Lucario to have a small chance to revenge Volcarona that can steam roll me.
​

Landorus (Landorus-T) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance

The monster and latest edition to this team. Double Dance Landorus-T is perhaps the most devastating Pokemon on my team; it's so damn powerful. Even without boosts, Landorus-T hits like a truck with 426 Atk + STAB Earthquake. I enjoy Landorus-T's ability to setup so easily with decent bulk + Intimidate. Rock Polish gives me the edge against offensive teams, especially Sun teams. Swords Dance gives me a shot at more defensive teams, even those with Skarmory, since one CB Stone Edge from TTar and one +2 Stone Edge from Landorus-T means Skarmory is done. Rock Polish and Swords Dance gives me the power of destruction over everything, and if it happens (and it does more frequently than you would think) it is pretty much game over for the opponent. EQ+Stone Edge is standard coverage, while the 76 HP EV's are to prevent Life Orb Terrakion from 2HKO'ing from Stone Edge. 180 Spe lets me outspeed positive base 70's. (thanks the smog for the spread)

Outside of sweeping Landorus-T's crucial role on my team is to absorb U-turn's from CB Scizor, which it still does well without investment. It also acts as a general annoyance to physical sweepers, especially Dragonite, by toning down their boosts with Intimidate. Overall Landorus-T is the best Pokemon on the team because it gets sweeps rather easily against both defensive and offensive teams.​

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef (2 Spe IV's)
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]​

Last but not least is specially defensive Bronzong, which was a pretty recent addition. Bronzong is the ultimate hole patcher for my team's defenses. It was included to counteract Landorus-I, Tornadus, Gengar, Alakazahm, SubToxic Gliscor, SD Landorus-T, Tyranitar, Latios, aaannnnnnnndddd some physical Dragons. Now that is a pretty extensive list and I don't think there even is another Pokemon that could do all that besides Bronzong. I swayed to a more specially defensive spread since Bronzong desperately needed to check Landorus-I and Tornadus-I. The special defensive is also handy to take pressure off of Tyranitar to handle Latios, since in some situations Tyranitar's health will be crucial for the weather war. Also can make up the lack of defense EV's that would stop physical Dragons with the aid of Slowbro and Landorus-T.

Bronzong's moves are as standard as they get. I don't think I need to explain how important Stealth Rock is. Gyro Ball is Bronzong's most powerful move to hit most targets, but it is a shame it conflicts with paralysis. Earthquake is handy to prevent Jirachi from setting up Substitutes and to hit Heatran on the switch. Lastly, HP Ice is Bronzong's best move to dispose of Landorus, Gliscor, and Dragons.​

Conclusion and Importable

So that's my team! Thanks if you rate and I hope you can try it out! It was a lot of fun to play with. Just want to give thanks to alkinesthetase for helping me out on some decision for team members throughout its development. #GiantPokeGIFsSuck

Team Importable

Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off

Amoonguss (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 32 SAtk / 224 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Stun Spore
- Spore

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower

Lucario (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Steadfast
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Vacuum Wave

Landorus (Landorus-T) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance

 

[Electrolyte]

Hey Doughboy,

Nice team! Being that this is a more defensively inclined team, it's important for the team to be able to cover as many offensive threats as possible, so I'll try and help you patch up some holes. A big threat to this team that I see is the common Sun team- and even Sun teams without Dugtrio can pose a significant threat. This is because your team is in general weak to Fire type STAB, and your only two Fire-resisting pokemon are both weak to Grass and Bug, making your whole team weak to Fire / Bug or Fire / Grass, an offensive combination most commonly found on Sun teams. Some naturally fast and power boosting opponents auch as Thundurus-T can also pose a big threat to this team, since they outspeed you without boosting and can muscle through your walls. You also have some offensive weaknesses that I think you could cover. Steel types and other relatively slower yet bulky walls can be a nightmare to face, especially pokemon like Physically Defensive Forretress, Specially Defensive Skarmory, Gliscor, or even opposing AmoongBro cores- all of them don't mind your paralysis, and can use their bulk and resistances to outlast you. You need a pokemon that can counter such offensive and defensive threats which can hinder this team.

A common and effective way most AmoongBro players overcome this problem is with Heatran, which I think in your case would definitely help the team as well. If you try Heatran instead of Lucario, the team would definitely become more defensively solid, and probably more offensively solid too. But before I explain the change, here's the set I had in mind:

Heatran @ Leftovers
Calm / 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpDef
Lava Plume / Roar / Toxic / Earth Power

I'm sure you've heard of the HAS core; it's a great defensive group of pokemon with great synergy together, and I think the addition of Heatran to this team would definitely help it succeed. Heatran is a great way to handle Sun teams, as it is immune to Fire and resistant to Bug and Grass, immediately covering the top three defensive type weaknesses of this team. It walls Sun sweepers to the Sun and back because of this, and can even utilize the Sun boost to power up its own Lava Plume, which maims all Chlorophyll sweepers. It also has Roar, which not only helps eliminate Volcarona from being any threat whatsoever, but can also provide the team with the important ability to phaze away setup sweepers that might not be easy to paralyze, such as Sub sweepers, Volt Absorb sweepers or Ground type sweepers. It patches up many offensive threats this way. It also has the ability to defeat many defensive threats too, since its Fire type coverage can hit the whole lot of them for an OHKO, preventing the likes of Skarmory, Forretress, and Ferrothorn from setting up. Its Toxic will also be extremely helpful when you want to gradually wear down bulky water types such as Jellicent instead of paralyzing them. With Heatran to come in and constantly check your opponent's support pokemon, they will find it tough not only to clear away their own hazards but also set hazards on your side. You can also try Protect or Taunt as opposed to Earth Power, as the former lets you Toxic stall and the ladder prevents hazards. However, I'll leave that choice up to you.

One thing that Heatran does not cover, however, is Thundurus-T, and his gang of not-that-fast but quite powerful group of rascals, including Tornadus-I, Alakazam, or LO Starmie. Nasty Plot Thundurus-T is a big threat to this team; once it get to +2, it will OHKO more than half your team, and at +4, you pretty much lose. Heatran is much better at handling Thundurus than Lucario as it can tank an unboosted Focus Blast, but you need a way to check such fairly speedy and powerful pokemon solidly should things get out of hand. To do this, I would try a Choice Scarf instead of a Choice Band on Tyranitar. The addition of Heatran decreases the need of extra wallbreaking power and special bulk as Heatran can use its STAB and SE coverage to hit walls. This lets Tyranitar shift its focus to speed- and with a scarf, you can use it to solidly check threats such as NP Thundurus-T, Starmie, Gengar, or Lati@s. With a spread of 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly, you can outspeed all of those threats and OHKO with the appropriate move. This will help you defeat pokemon that use their natural speed and a power boosting move to muscle past defensive threats, and aid the overall defensive success of the team.

Nice job, lucdisc'd! Good luck!

 

[buzzingohrnets]

DoughBoy, this is a great team! I tried playing with it and had amazing success, the defensive core is just so hard to take down. The only possible suggestions I would agree with Electrolyte's change of substituting your Lucario for a Heatran; though you could easily go for the standard offensive version:

Heatran @ Air Balloon/Leftovers | Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA/252 Spd/4 Def
Modest
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power Ice
- Stealth Rock/Roar

This set is more offensive and can make a great lead to counter the common hazard setting Ferrothorn/Metagross leads, scoring an easy OHKO with Fire Blast if they stay in, or easily laying rocks on the predicted switch out (Flamethrower can be used as an alternative if you dislike the accuracy drop, but it has only a 12.5% chance to OHKO the standard Metagross lead). Though they may seem redundant with Bronzong also running them, it gives you early game way of either setting rocks. Though Roar might be slightly out of place on an offensive version of Heatran, any set up sweepers thinking they can resist offensive Heatran's attacks (such as Gyarados) will be phazed out.

I would also suggest that you ditch swords dance on your Landorus-T and give it a life orb; it's attack is already incredibly high and can be boosted further by Life Orb, and it usually only needs the speed boost to attempt a sweep. In terms of a replacement move, you could use HP Ice to help dispose of oposing dragons/Landorus/Gliscor who think they can wall this set (and his overlooked 105SpA is high enough to score many key OHKOs). You could also use Explosion if his health is low and you want to go out with an almighty bang! U-Turn is an option too if you want to do some damage while switching out (the only reason I suggest this is you can easily escape a destiny bond from Wobbufet, something which I can enountered using the Double Dance set).

Other than that, your team is excellent and a lot of fun to play with.

 

[hathater]

I adore Amoonguss! Why does your bronzong have a special attack? I find a sheer force landorus is better, you will get a lot of POWER! I would find jellicent to be a better counter to terrakion, and durant but thats unrelated

 

[Miles Tails]

Doughboy Hi, this is a good team!
I suggest you test Keldeo Calm Mind instead of Lucario. Lucario is a very interesting, but he does not have a Spd as good, which is essential in this current metagame where brute strength and speed prevails with that you get more a resistance to Fire is holding a sweeper quality.
I find it interesting you test a Choice Scarf Landorus-T , you need a Killer Revenger this team, with Landorus-T using Choice Scarf you will be able to scounter with U-Turn, it will greatly help the team bringing you the time of departure many times.


Keldeo @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Surf
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power(Ice)/Substitute


Landorus (Landorus-T) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- U-turn

 

[Lastshadow94]

Very nice team, I've had a huge amount of success with it. One thing I changed that's made a huge difference is substituting Mamoswine for Landorus for coverage on Landorus and Dragons, primarily. It's a very standard Mamo, but it works nicely.

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Superpower

After watching Lando-I kick this team all over everything, I switched this lovely fuzzball for your Lando-T. Ice Shard scores a clean OHKO (128.84-153.29%) on all standard Lando-I, a 59.07-69.1 (guaranteed 2KO) on defensive Lando-T, and 82.56-100.3 (minimal chance for OHKO) on all other forms. It also nets a guaranteed OHKO with nothing else with Icicle Crash on either form. It gets hit hard back, but with some prediction, it really fills that gap nicely.

It also hits DD Dragonite for ~60-70% with Ice Shard through Multiscale and nets a clean KO through the same with Icicle crash.

 

[HSA]

You should drop Bromoonguss for a better Grass-type, like Virizion. Use the Swords Dance + Life Orb version, with Close Combat, Stone Edge, and Leaf Blade. This will ensure that you get maximum wreckage vs your opponent, as they will be hard pressed to guard their ass against the Triple Threat of Landorus-T, Lucario, and Virizion. Always aim for maximum Wreckage.