Hi
I haven't posted a team since I first started competitive Pokemon, so I thought I would post a team which brought me "success" (well not really but it won a few times when it mattered). As much as I hate this generation, this team was my pride and joy, a team I actually enjoyed using. Its a fun team to use and is somewhat standard with a few twitches of uniqueness. This team started out as a joke, however I received some quality results on the PO ladder. This team won 4/4 times in Smogon Tournament 8 (rounds 2, 3, 5 and 6). After 5 weeks (0-5) of building merde teams in the SPL, I decided to go back to this team which pulled me back to 2-5. I learn't one thing playing in official tournaments though, go with your gut. Anyway, this is no perfect team, but it’s my favourite team of all the teams I've used since 2009.
Teambuilding
I Started of with Double Dance Haxorus. Haxorus could sweep so many unprepared teams, and with Scarf Magnezone, teams really struggled to take on Haxorus, especially when peoples were forced to have their Gliscor take a +2 Outrage. Magnezone was great, unfortunetly it lost to Leech Seed Ferrothorn in the rain, but it revenged Thundurus back in the day, as well as other 111ish- Speed Pokemon. Now that I had this combo, I had to fill in the rest of the team.
---------------------------------------------
Scizor was the next addition to the team. He was added to give me the momentum and to also lure something in that could be set up on with U-Turn. Bullet Punch gave my priority so I can pick off shit like Scarf Terrakion, Latios, Dragonite, etc.
---------------------------------------------
I had forgotten the point of the team so far, and that was to remove shit for Haxorus. Explosion's damage being halved kinda put me off using it, so I turned to a new move. Final Gambit is an interesting move. Victini was perfect as it had 100 base HP, meaning it could take down max HP Tyranitar. It also lured threats for Haxorus such as Balloon Heatran, Scarf Dragons, Gliscor and any other annoying threats to the team such as Rotom-W, Tentacruel and more. It pretty much Guaranteed a kill to something, but I had to be careful of Chansey, Blissey, Full HP, Vaporeon, Gastrodon and Ghosts (Jellicent is a huge problem, but I can U-turn on it.
---------------------------------------------
So I had a Steel trapped, Revenge Killer + momentum gainer and errr.. whatever you want to call Victini in this case. I wanted something that could hit really hard and take hits well. Is there really anyone else that does this as well as CB Dragonite?
---------------------------------------------
Obviously, the last Pokemon I needed had to have Stealth Rock. This team isn't serious, so I said whatever and left SR out. Something I have really wanted to use was Tangrowth. My team isnt suppose to take hits, but there is nothing wrong with insurence right? Tangrowth is able to counter many Sand threats and with Regeneration + Leech Seed, it can be a real pain in the ass for the opponent to take down. Although it didn't really fit the team, I wanted to try it.
---------------------------------------------
So that was the team, it somehow reached 1500 on the PO ladder (jajaja 1500 on PO = hardly 1300 on Smogon ladder). I was just playing the team really recklessly since I didn't have to worry about putting up SR early. I still liked this version of the team, but I think having SR was more important than putting pressure on early. Dragonite wasn't pulling its weight as much as I hoped because Haxorus and Mag made Dnite feel like a third wheel. If I dropped Dragonite, I needed something to take on Sun with SR. Heatran was easily the best option.
---------------------------------------------
As I was laddering, this team got completely fucked up by Water move spam on a rain team (Specs Politoad and Specs Rotom-W). Specs Hydro Pump 1hkoed Haxorus from Rotom-W and 2hkoed Tangrowth. Everything else had no chance at taking a boosted Hydro Pump. I didn't want to dispose of Tangrowth, Heatran or Victini. Scizor was just too good of a Pokemon in this metagame to give up and U-turn really compliment the whole team. So it was out of Haxorus and Magnezone. These two worked really well with eachother, but I had to give up Magnezone. I still had two Steel types and one Pokemon to remove something. Rotom-W was the best thing to somewhat furful Magnezones place while taking Water attacks.
-------------------------------------------------
Haxorus wasn't the same without Magnezone. Dragonite came back, able to take on Rain and Sun teams really well, as well as taking almost any hit with Multi Scale. This time, I chose DD Dragonite over CB.
Dragonite (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
Dragonite is arguably the most important member of the team and doesn't come out early unless I need it to take a hit. Roost is very important, especially if I am playing it as a last mon against a Stall team. I often vary on Dragonite set, I sometimes use Espeed over Roost and EQ of Fire Punch, but I have settled with this set. I use Lum Berry to take Toxic's from Chansey, Gliscor, etc and to take burns from Wil-o-Wisp and Scald.
I find that I have quite a few chances to Dragon Dance, so I use that set over CB. Not to mention he is the main sweeper of the team. Outrage over Dragon Claw because Dragon Claw is piss weak and I have the Lum Berry to cure Confusion if needed. EV's maximise Dragonite's Attack and give it a decent amount of Speed. I want that extra bulk so I put 60 HP EVs in HP. Overall, Dragonite is just a great Pokemon this generation and finds a very desereved spot on the team. However, it does struggle against Steel types (Dongzong and Skarmory) in the Rain. This is where I need to rely on prediction with double switching Rotom-W and wearing it down with Volt Switch and Stealth Rock on the field.
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 188 HP / 60 Def / 252 SAtk / 8 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Rotom-W is in my opinion, a top 3 Pokemon in the metagame. Its such a pain to play against and has so many useful resistances as well as being immune to ground attacks and Spikes/Toxic Spikes. Why anyone would use a choice item on Rotom-W makes me wonder. The only one I would ever consider is Specs in the rain. Volt Switch is the most used move, and Hydro Pump is there to round out the double STAB. Wil-o-Wisp is a great move (yeah right 75 acc) for spreading burn and giving Dragonite more chances to set up throughout the match. Pain split is VITAL for keeping Rotom-W alive. When I play against a defensive team, Pain Split helps Rotom take HP off Chansey, Ferrodick and others. I often find that if Dragonite isn't going to sweep, then my next best option is to remove the Rotom-W's counters. Unless its a suicide HO team or Sun team, the opponent usually has 1-3 Pokemon who can touch Rotom-W. 188 HP for the bulk (not maxed for Pain Split), 60 Defensive for that extra bulk to take on CB Tyranitar (Stone Edge does like 45%ish when its burn't). Max SpA and Modest Nature to hit as hard as possible and virtually no speed because I don't think it is important on Rotom-W. Plus there is a better chance of me having momentum when I go last.
Tangrowth (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 76 SDef / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Leech Seed
Tangrof is a complete BEAST. Its very similar to Slowbro with a few trades offs (beats Rotom-W, loses to Fire types, etc). Tangrowth is my main answer to non Acrobatics or Substitute Gliscor, Rotom-W, Conkeldurr, Terrakion, Landorus, non Hurricane Dragonite and formally Excadrill. Although Tangrowth is a solid Physical wall, Terrakion is still a cunt because of how hard it hits. Regenerator is a blessing for Tangrowth, this team switches out a lot and keep Tangrowth healthy for a long time. Sleep Powder helps nullify a Pokemon on the opposing team and is very useful if it sleep opposing Tentacruel, Scizor or Heatran. Giga Drain is the primary STAB move and helps me recover more HP. Hidden Power Ice is for Dragonite, Landorus, Glsicor, etc as weel as slightly damaging other Grass types. Leech Seed is a great move for Pokemon such as Jirachi who try and para flinch my weakened Tangrowth. It also helps me take out Conkeldurr. 252/176 Gives Tangrowth a lot of physical bulk while that bit of Special Defence helps me take rain boosted Water moves.
Scizor (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Scizor helps me keep momentum and more importantly, revenges dragons and Terrakion. He has great synergy with Rotom-W which really helps me if I am being worn down by a stall team. Pursuit is also a very important move for trapping Latios, Latias low HP Jellicent (even if I take the burn), wearing down Blissey and anything else that I can trap. Superpower is an underappreciated move since most Scizor users just spam U-Turn, but if I see a Heatran I will Superpower when I get the chance. Pretty standard standard EVs for max damage output and to speed creep.
Victini @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Victory Star
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- V-create
- Fusion Bolt
- U-turn
- Final Gambit
Victini is really great to use and is certainly a Pokemon who deserves some attention. Victini is the key to beating stall by taking out Tentacruel, Heatran, Dragonite, Tyranitar, Latias, Starmie, Gastrodon (Pursuit with Scizor to finish it), Gyrados and if I need to for whatever reason, Politoad. Final Gambit is usually used straight away to stop the opponent from setting up, unless I really need it for later. I need to use it before SR gets up against me, but usually that isn’t too much of a problem. V-Create if there as a STAB move which can clean late games on the rare occasion but can also revenge Lucario with its 404 HP to take Espeed. U-turn for momentum and holding of Final Gambit and Fusion Bolt is for the piece of cunt that is Jellicent who can render Final Gambit useless. 404 HP to kill other max base 100 HP Pokemon, Speed>Attack because it is more important for the most important move on this set.
Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SAtk / 184 SDef / 16 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Roar
Heatran doesn’t do much other than make sure Scizor doesn’t clean me up late game, stop Latios from spamming Meteors and setting up SR. He checks Volcarona without HP ground which is always nice to have and has Roar to phase something which I really need to get out of the way (no eq ddnite, Rotom-W switch in, etc). Specially defensive Heatran is used due to the lack of special walls on this team and allows it to take a few Scalds outside the rain. I like running Earth Power for Jolteon (my team is Jolteon weak), other Heatrans which often only run Lava Plume these days and can hit get rid of Tentacruel after 3 odd turns if it is burned. Heatran is mainly just filling in the roles that this team requires and does it very well.
So that is the team... I actually wrote ¾ of this 2 months ago but I was unable to finish it as I didn’t have access to it. I like using this team aggressively to just break down the opposition, especially when a good (or lucky) Final Gambit can change the whole standing of a game. I’d like to stress to say that this is a tournament team, not so much a ladder team. The style of the team suits catching tournament teams off guard with Victini and Tangrowth, while the ladder is just repetitive and using Final Gambit off the bat in ladder matches doesn’t work all the time. This team is pretty much retired since I’ve had extremely reduced playing time due to school and stuff and a new metagame is coming in the next few days (more damn Jellicents thanks to Keldeo).
This team struggles against Special attackers such as Jolteon and Hydreigon (oh I hate this thing), but nothing is impossible to kill. Toxicroak and Sub Toxic Glsicor are also huge pains in the ass, just gotta not give them a free turn. Never the less, a fun team to use.
