Fire and Brimstone (5th Gen OU Sun team)

[Danzeru]

Greetings and salutations,

This is my first thread on Smogon forums, let alone an RMT. I'm a long time lurker, started battling in 4th Gen, then took a long break and now I'm back for 5th!

Now first of all I must credit the seasoned Sun veteran Benlisted for some of the brilliant sets he uses in his team Solar Flare and for his help on advising me when creating this team. Go check out his team if you haven't already, it's beastly. Cheers Ben! Another thank you goes out to alphatron and his excellent insight into Sun teams, check his team Cosmic Bodies of Gas out.

This team has been through a few iterations which I'll detail throughout as they aren't as important as the current state of the team. Without further ado, here it is...

The Team:




Fire:

Brimstone (Ninetales) (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Drought
EVs: 232 HP / 24 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Fighting] / WoW
- Toxic
- Rest

ChestoRest Tales is an excellent set adding a large amount of survivability to the potentially frail fox. Sawsbuck has Aromatherapy allowing me to awaken Tales after Chesto is gone which is a huge boon.

Set-wise I've been alternating between HP Fighting and WoW. I'm leaning toward HP Fighting as it let's me deal with Tran better who can cause my team some trouble otherwise, it also allows me to hit TTar (though WoW'ing TTar is generally more effective.) Toxic takes care of other weather users Hippo, Toed and other threats. SpA EVs are there to break Sub Tran's subs (only necessary with HP Fighting obviously.)

Scorch (Charizard) (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Solar Power
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Air Slash
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Solar Power SpecsZard hits like a truck full of fiery, molten bricks. It never ceases to amaze me how much damage this thing can attain, 2HKO'ing Blissey never gets old. If something takes a Fire Blast in the Sun then it's toast. Roasted, charred, burnt-beyond-recognition toast. Focus Blast is there for Tran, TTar and other potential threats. STAB Air Slash does great damage on Fighting types such as Conkeldurr with Zard's moustrous SpA. Dragon Pulse would be perfect to round it off but Solar Power Zard cannot learn this move as it's an egg move and he's male only so instead I am using HP Ice.

Zard usually comes in mid to late game, obviously it's ideal for Tales to be around and other weather users to be down at this point. At any rate he needs some time in the sun to be of any use so it's important to support Zard with entry hazards and especially removal of entry hazards (this is provided later in the analysis.)




Chlorophyll:

Helios (Venusaur) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 24 HP / 252 SAtk / 232 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Energy Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Growth

When I heard that Saur received Chlorophyll through DW and saw the changes to Growth, I almost jumped through the roof with joy. Then I cried a little when I found out it was male only and thus not able to learn Power Whip or Giga Drain. At any rate, Saur has been one of my favourite Pokemon since I got my Pokemon Blue all those years ago and the potential to see him shine (see what I did there?) in OU is awesome.

Was running a mixed set with EQ on this bad boy until recently (thanks again Benlisted) and boy oh boy is this special set fun. If it could use Giga Drain then it would be incredibly broken (and if it could learn Power Whip then a physical Saur set would be mental!) Sludge Bomb allows Saur to hit Dragon types really nicely, EQ was good for some things like Chandy and Tran but the recent advent of BalloonTran and the fact I have other things to deal with that renders this point relatively moot. HP Fire gaining a boost from Sun is fantastic as it gives Saur great coverage. Spd EVs beat ScarfChomp and some of the scary base 100 scarfers.

Buckshot (Sawsbuck) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Horn Leech
- Double-Edge
- Jump Kick
- Aromatherapy / Swords Dance

Buck is great. Buck is so, so great. My favourite Pokemon from this new Gen. This set gives him great coverage and great power as well as recovery through Horn Leech. Aromatherapy removing paralysis and burn off my heavy hitters, sleep off Tales, etc. is fantastic. The fact that a force like Buck can provide support in this manner is awesome. DE is very good for dealing with aggressive dragons. These two attacks coupled with Jump Kick provide Buck with great coverage. Were it not for Aromatherapy's potential necessity I would replace it with Swords Dance but oh well. What are your opinions on this? Note that I have Xatu to bounce back status ailments if I predict adequately but I quite like the added comfort of having Aromatherapy...

This amount of Spd EVs + Chloro is more than enough to outspeed a lot of scarfers, as long as I watch out for Volcarona setting up.




Support:

Quetzalcoatl (Xatu) (M) @ Light Clay
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Wish
- Reflect
- Light Screen

Magic Bounce is a fantastic ability and allows me to use the opponent's hazards and status moves against him. My team benefits hugely from dual screens too. Now the reason I'm going with Xatu over Espeon is that Espeon cannot learn Wish when using Magic Bounce (male only), also Xatu's immunity to Ground moves is appreciated on a Sun team, allowing him to set up screens when I predict correctly.

Xatu is here purely as a support Pokemon. Dual screens protect my team and it benefits hugely from Wish (especially Zard and Saur.) U-Turn is used to switch in a Pokemon once screens are up, especially useful for bringing in Tales to get the sun out. EVs give him more Def than SDef for TTar's Pursuit, still not sure how much of each I need, input please? Right now I'm sitting on 250 Def and 188 SDef. I understand Jirachi could perform this role to a certain extent but I like MB and Jirachi's weaknesses are emphasized in the sun (e.g. against another sun team.)

Panzer (Donphan) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Atk / 68 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

I have Xatu for MB but I still feel uncomfortable having to predict all the time to protect myself from hazards (Tales and especially Zard *hate* hazards) so a spinner seemed like a good option. This is perhaps the most contended slot on my team. I went through many, many spinners and I have settled on Donphan, here are my reasons. Starmie was a very good option but made me even more TTar weak and having Xatu on the team as well reinforced that weakness. I also used Claydol before then for SR + Spin but the TTar weakness as well as lack of offense made me think that this wasn't a good idea. Donphan has great offense and this makes him my guy. Donphan also appreciates sun as it allows him to take physical Water attacks more comfortably.

Donphan provides me with very powerful EdgeQuake coverage and SR. Zard, Saur and Buck appreciate SR as we all know it can make all the difference. I'm still unsure about my EV spread, feedback please?

There is also a thought of replacing Donphan with a Hitmontop using Intimidate, Rapid Spin, Foresight, Close Combat and Mach/Sucker Punch. With this spinner I would have to rely on my prediction skills and Xatu to obtain an SR. However, he would make a good lead with priority and be an incredible counter to TTar as well as being able to pull off guaranteed spins with Foresight (something Zard would appreciate hugely.) Thoughts?

So that's my team! Criticize away but please try to stay civil in your rates, as I said I'm new to 5th Gen and would appreciate some straight forward yet polite advice. I'm not versed enough in the metagame to build an adequate threat list so I'll compile one from the criticism I receive here as well as make adjustments.

 

[kingdra]

I don't have the time to comment now, so I'll make this quick.
You only have one pokemon to set up Sunny Day. KO Tales and send in TTar, you are kinda screwed. Consider having a 2nd or 3rd Sunny Day maker on your team, if you are really going for a Sun Team.

 

[Benlisted]

I don't have the time to comment now, so I'll make this quick.
You only have one pokemon to set up Sunny Day. KO Tales and send in TTar, you are kinda screwed. Consider having a 2nd or 3rd Sunny Day maker on your team, if you are really going for a Sun Team.

If you really focus your team to deal with other weather inducers (and make Tales as survivable as ChestoRest is) you really have no need for a second Sun inducer, especially as that wastes both a moveslot and a turn to set up. TTar is a big threat, but you can play around it well enough.

You make me sound like a brilliant player, I'm really not, I'm reasonable but by no means amazing lol. Anyway, onto a rate.

On Tales it really is a toss-up between WoW and HP Fight. You would benefit from reduced strength Pursuits a lot given you have Xatu and Tales, but aside from Saws who doesn't want to come in, your best way to deal with a BirdyTran is to catch it on the switch with HP Fight from Zard. It's really up to you, it's a very tough call. I may go for HP Fight given Xatu is already offensively lacking and to clear the way for Zard, however you also don't want to risk a Pursuit and to lose the Sun for him :\.

On Zard I'd give Air Slash a try first, as the less you can rely on Sun the better, and it is STABed and is a strong neutral move (which I forgot about tbh). Coverage on the Fighting types who Mach Punch Saws is useful, especially as it means you don't have to use Venu solely to counter Roobushin. Solarbeam actually hits very little come to think of it - Gastrodon and the other rare 4x weaks etc are hit hard with Air Slash, and what other water types will Solarbeam be useful for barring Toed (who you can't use it on)? Kingdra is hit by DP, Empoleon by Fire Blast, Starmie dies to Air Slash, Jellicent doesn't like Air Slash much either, etc. If you find yourself seeing things Solarbeam is needed for a lot then use it, but I can't see it tbh. HP Fight Vs FB is down to whether you need the extra power to OHKO/2HKO things out of sun with it, as in sun HP Fight is damn powerful. Do some calcs on TTar etc and see, but personally I'd stick with the HP - you don't want to get Zard in safely just for a miss to happen.

One thing to do with Xatu is to use the PO stats and have a look at how much Spe TTars in general are running these days, and EV Xatu to beat them so it can either U-Turn away safely or screen in its face. Reflecting may let you get Tales in without awful damage if its a Specially based TTar and takes a Crunch at worst, meaning you can wear it down with HP Fight as well as get your Sun up nicely. If you don't fancy being that risky, you could U-Turn to Donphan to take the hit and then double switch back out (but watch for Ice Beam). Primarily because of his Pursuit weak I'd invest more in Def, but it's up to you really.

If you continue to use Donphan, I'd consider dropping Assurance. The three ghosts you see most this gen are Jellicent, Gengar and Dusclops/Noir. Jellicent outspeeds you, but can take Payback on the switch well enough and then proceed to Burn you or Ice Beam you whilst recovering off damage. EQ hits it harder on the switch. Clops/Noir have epic Def so Payback hurts them less than STAB EQ (you outspeed them) as well as being able to Burn you. Gengar is the only one hit significantly by Payback, but he can always disable that or Trick you something nasty. I'd definitely keep SR if you have Donphan, it really is very useful for Sun, but given ice Shard's lacklustre power, consider SE for EgdeQuake and being able to hit Gengar just as well as Payback on the switch.

I would see Hitmontop working better in this spot, but the loss of SR is horrible. However, given you have MM Xatu to possibly nab the opponent's SR, you could well try him out. Personally I'd go with Intimidate to make for an even better switchin to TTar from Xatu than Donphan, as well as easier switchin opportunities all round. Rapid Spin, Foresight, CC and Mach Punch would be my recommendations for moves, as FS lets you eliminate the problem that comes with running all Fighting moves and guarantee a RS - something Zard will love you forever for. He also makes for a decent lead with priority and Intimidate, especially against SS, so he has a lot of utility there too. You'll have to keep him healthy with Wish, but he has pretty great synergy with Xatu so that should prove not too bad. In terms of EVs I'm not too much help I'm afraid. Enough Spe to beat most TTar for sure and Jellicent perhaps so you can CC it if you want before you get burned, then max in HP and probably the rest in Atk to boost Mach Punch and let CC kill Ferro with minimal recoil, though some SpDef may help with switchins.

Good luck with this team :).

 

[Danzeru]

Thanks for the rate Benlisted! Didn't mean to hype you up too much, just that you have experience with sun heh.

Right I've adjusted my Zard to use Air Slash. I shall think on and playtest what move to use on Tales. For Xatu, with 0 Spd EVs, he outspeeds 252 Spd EV (non beneficial natured) TTar so I've adjusted the EVs to be more physically defensive, 250 Def and 188 SDef, is that ok? Or should I adjust it so it outspeeds beneficially natured 252 Spd TTar? I've also adjusted my Donphan, I'd rather keep the Donphan as I prefer to have a reliable SR... Though Hitmontop is tempting, I'll stick to this for now and, if it doesn't work, switch.

I have a question though, what if I ran a Latias as my dual screener + wishpasser? What move would round it off? Would it work well with my team and what spinner should I use in that case? I know I'd lose MB this way but Latias is an interesting option. I'm used to her being Uber as I use to battle in 4th Gen OU so I'm not sure how to use this particular Pokemon.

 

[Benlisted]

Right I've adjusted my Zard to use Air Slash. I shall think on and playtest what move to use on Tales. For Xatu, with 0 Spd EVs, he outspeeds 252 Spd EV (non beneficial natured) TTar so I've adjusted the EVs to be more physically defensive, 250 Def and 188 SDef, is that ok? Or should I adjust it so it outspeeds beneficially natured 252 Spd TTar? I've also adjusted my Donphan, I'd rather keep the Donphan as I prefer to have a reliable SR... Though Hitmontop is tempting, I'll stick to this for now and, if it doesn't work, switch.

I have a question though, what if I ran a Latias as my dual screener + wishpasser? What move would round it off? Would it work well with my team and what spinner should I use in that case? I know I'd lose MB this way but Latias is an interesting option. I'm used to her being Uber as I use to battle in 4th Gen OU so I'm not sure how to use this particular Pokemon.

I think the only Jolly TTars are ones who are Scarfed, so you should be fine as is. If you see yourself getting outsped a lot (I wouldn't expect you to) then change, however. Latias would be able to dual screen excellently - it just depends on how much you want to rely on Zard. If you use her for both Screens and wish she's gonna be getting walled by a lot (notably Tran) so I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Either way, it's up to you. The extra offensive ability makes up for Xatu's lack thereof with that set, but you lose some Zard support. One thing you could try is a CM/Roar variant, maybe with Wish too and one attack. This would let you blast out problem mons as you boost up and hopefully sweep (steels need to be removed - but you run sun so Tran is the only issue), but would weaken your Zard even more. If you want to focus on Zard keep Xatu, if you don't mind weakening him a tad then try out either Latias set. I think if you use it you need Wish for sure to keep Zard alive with, however.

 

[masterful]

You have a really good team here, so I will only say a few things.

1)I would recommend running Giga Drain on your Venusaurover Energy Ball, as it is only 5 BP lower and it helps you recoup some of the Life Orb damage you will accumulate during the sweep.
2)I would highly recommend you run SD on Sawsbuck, as it is such a destructive force under the sun after just one turn of set up, which screens will likely allow you to get quite easily. Your team isn't too crippled by status as you possess only one real physical attacker. Outside of maybe T-Wave Thundurus, your team fucntions just fine without Aromotherapy, and you have a Xatu to Reflect a lot of statuses back at their user.
3)Run a Bold 252 HP / 188 Atk / 68 Def set with Assurance over Stone Edge to hit switch-ins harder. Spinning is such a massive priority for a team you must maximize your chances of a successful spin. Stone Edge isn't doing a huge amount for you, to be really honest.

 

[Danzeru]

You have a really good team here, so I will only say a few things.

1)I would recommend running Giga Drain on your Venusaur over Energy Ball, as it is only 5 BP lower and it helps you recoup some of the Life Orb damage you will accumulate during the sweep.
2)I would highly recommend you run SD on Sawsbuck, as it is such a destructive force under the sun after just one turn of set up, which screens will likely allow you to get quite easily. Your team isn't too crippled by status as you possess only one real physical attacker. Outside of maybe T-Wave Thundurus, your team fucntions just fine without Aromotherapy, and you have a Xatu to Reflect a lot of statuses back at their user.
3)Run a Bold 252 HP / 188 Atk / 68 Def set with Assurance over Stone Edge to hit switch-ins harder. Spinning is such a massive priority for a team you must maximize your chances of a successful spin. Stone Edge isn't doing a huge amount for you, to be really honest.

1) Unfortunately this is not a legal set as Venusaur learns Giga Drain through an egg move and the DW Venusaur Game Freak released is male only therefore you cannot breed a Venusaur with Chlorophyll *and* Giga Drain. I know, it made me sad as well! If it were possible to get egg moves, I'd make a Power Whip, EQ physical set.

2) I will try out SD on Buck but I do like the added comfort of having Aromatherapy to wake up Tales once Chesto is gone! Buck is more there as a revenger than a sweeper but I'll certainly give it a shot as the extra kick would certainly be appreciated.

3) I dropped Assurance on Donphan as Benlisted pointed out that "The three ghosts you see most this gen are Jellicent, Gengar and Dusclops/Noir." Jellicent and Dusclops take Assurance very comfortably he pointed out so EQ hits them harder. Read above for added justification. This is why I dropped it for SE, as well as coverage, do you agree? At any rate I might consider switching to Bold nature as you advised!

Thanks very much for the rate Masterful!

 

[Danzeru]

I would see Hitmontop working better in this spot, but the loss of SR is horrible. However, given you have MM Xatu to possibly nab the opponent's SR, you could well try him out. Personally I'd go with Intimidate to make for an even better switchin to TTar from Xatu than Donphan, as well as easier switchin opportunities all round. Rapid Spin, Foresight, CC and Mach Punch would be my recommendations for moves, as FS lets you eliminate the problem that comes with running all Fighting moves and guarantee a RS - something Zard will love you forever for. He also makes for a decent lead with priority and Intimidate, especially against SS, so he has a lot of utility there too. You'll have to keep him healthy with Wish, but he has pretty great synergy with Xatu so that should prove not too bad. In terms of EVs I'm not too much help I'm afraid. Enough Spe to beat most TTar for sure and Jellicent perhaps so you can CC it if you want before you get burned, then max in HP and probably the rest in Atk to boost Mach Punch and let CC kill Ferro with minimal recoil, though some SpDef may help with switchins.

Thanks for this bit about Hitmontop Benlisted! I can work out an EV spread from there. What did you mean by "synergy with Xatu" though? Sorry if I don't see it, I'm rusty as heck but what do I gain from this partnership?

 

[Danzeru]

Turns out I made a huge mistake. Charizard cannot learn Dragon Pulse as it is an egg move and DW Zard is male only... Any suggestions for that moveslot? Right now I've replaced HP Fight with Focus Blast and put in HP Ice for Dragon types.

I've got half a mind to turn him into a Flame Charge variant with an Expert Belt.

 

[MajorGambit]

Man, please just never use solarbeam. In a weather-based metagame, this move can represent your loss and will most likely do. Using it with a choiced poke is even worst!
I'll just give you two scenarios to prove my point. Zard uses solarbeam on any poke. Mixtar, the most common version of it, comes in, and so does the sand, thus making solarbeam a charge move. Mixtar then either pursuits the fleeing Zard as staying and taking damage for 2 turns is stupid, since in the sand it is not even close to a ko; stone edges or crunches incoming tales thus koing or putting a huge dent on it. Ice beams donphan and if he stays he is koed and you lose ur rocks and spinner; ice beams, crunches or stone edges your xatu proceeding to ko and make you lose one of your guaranties that zard can be useful. To summarize: none of your pokes will enjoy tanking a huge chunk from ttar after zard is locked in a setup move.
The scenario is with protect toad, which will fire hypnosis
boil over and ice beams to your team thus koing or crippling them. Seriously, don't use solarbeam and don't ever used it on a choiced poke.

 

[Benlisted]

Thanks for this bit about Hitmontop Benlisted! I can work out an EV spread from there. What did you mean by "synergy with Xatu" though? Sorry if I don't see it, I'm rusty as heck but what do I gain from this partnership?

Basically just that Xatu can take Flying/Psychic attacks well, and Hitmon can take Rock and Dark for Xatu.

Turns out I made a huge mistake. Charizard cannot learn Dragon Pulse as it is an egg move and DW Zard is male only... Any suggestions for that moveslot? Right now I've replaced HP Fight with Focus Blast and put in HP Ice for Dragon types.

I've got half a mind to turn him into a Flame Charge variant with an Expert Belt.

Hmm. This means your HP is pretty much forced into being HP Ice and then to use Focus Blast to cover TTar, which isn't ideal but is all you can do. I'd still go with your two STABs and then something to cover Dragons and TTar/Tran, so keep trying the Fight/Ice coverage moves out (Bear in mind that Fire Blast with Sun and STAB may well prove better than HP Ice on Latios - do some calcs). One item option for you is Wide Lens - making Fire Blast almost alsway hit, Air Slash 100%, and slightly helping with Focus Blast, so you could give it a try if you go for a Flame Charge set (drop HP in that case) though I wouldn't recommend it over Specs' sheer power.

Man, please just never use solarbeam. In a weather-based metagame, this move can represent your loss and will most likely do. Using it with a choiced poke is even worst!
I'll just give you two scenarios to prove my point. Zard uses solarbeam on any poke. Mixtar, the most common version of it, comes in, and so does the sand, thus making solarbeam a charge move. Mixtar then either pursuits the fleeing Zard as staying and taking damage for 2 turns is stupid, since in the sand it is not even close to a ko; stone edges or crunches incoming tales thus koing or putting a huge dent on it. Ice beams donphan and if he stays he is koed and you lose ur rocks and spinner; ice beams, crunches or stone edges your xatu proceeding to ko and make you lose one of your guaranties that zard can be useful. To summarize: none of your pokes will enjoy tanking a huge chunk from ttar after zard is locked in a setup move.
The scenario is with protect toad, which will fire hypnosis
boil over and ice beams to your team thus koing or crippling them. Seriously, don't use solarbeam and don't ever used it on a choiced poke.

Actually, Zard is one of the more viable mons to use Solarbeam on. He's already so dependent on Sun anyway that he's barely going to be doing anything in other weathers, except trying to take out the inducer with Focus Blast/Air Slash/HP Grass/Ice. For this reason, if you want a Grass coverage move, you may as well go with Solarbeam so you can use HP Fight as opposed to Focus Blast - the coverage a good HP gives is more valuable to something like Zard for beatin his 4x resists, so any other coverage moves he gets are viable options.

 

[Danzeru]

Man, please just never use solarbeam. In a weather-based metagame, this move can represent your loss and will most likely do. Using it with a choiced poke is even worst!
I'll just give you two scenarios to prove my point. Zard uses solarbeam on any poke. Mixtar, the most common version of it, comes in, and so does the sand, thus making solarbeam a charge move. Mixtar then either pursuits the fleeing Zard as staying and taking damage for 2 turns is stupid, since in the sand it is not even close to a ko; stone edges or crunches incoming tales thus koing or putting a huge dent on it. Ice beams donphan and if he stays he is koed and you lose ur rocks and spinner; ice beams, crunches or stone edges your xatu proceeding to ko and make you lose one of your guaranties that zard can be useful. To summarize: none of your pokes will enjoy tanking a huge chunk from ttar after zard is locked in a setup move.
The scenario is with protect toad, which will fire hypnosis
boil over and ice beams to your team thus koing or crippling them. Seriously, don't use solarbeam and don't ever used it on a choiced poke.

It's ok I know all this. Just was at a bit of a loss when I replaced Dragon Pulse because it's illegal. I'm using HP Ice and Focus Blast now. And the only reason I was getting SolarBeam were for the reasons stated in Benlisted's post which you're welcome to disagree with.


Benlisted, I've been using Focus Blast and HP Ice atm. HP Ice OHKO'd a few Latios and helped me out with a few other Dragons. I'm going to keep testing the Hitmontop set we discussed too, playing with EV spread right now.

Cheers guys.

 

[alphatron]

Man, I'm late. I read this topic a while back but never got around to posting here. I have nothing left to add save for pretty much parroting what has already been said. (If T-tar gives Xatu problems, then Psycho shift may not be too bad on him if ou don't mind using flame orb over leftovers. But eh...)

Be sure to report your results with hitmontop. I personally liked using him as a spinner. Foresight means you'll have the oppurtunity to spin whenever you need to.

 

[Danzeru]

Man, I'm late. I read this topic a while back but never got around to posting here. I have nothing left to add save for pretty much parroting what has already been said. (If T-tar gives Xatu problems, then Psycho shift may not be too bad on him if ou don't mind using flame orb over leftovers. But eh...)

Be sure to report your results with hitmontop. I personally liked using him as a spinner. Foresight means you'll have the oppurtunity to spin whenever you need to.

Thanks alphatron. But I'm using Light Clay on Xatu for screens. Hitmontop has been proving extremely useful and I'm considering switching him in permanently.

In other news, Zard has been ridiculously powerful and winning me games by simply locking into Fire Blast once threats are dealt with. Only issue being his lack of speed. Now what if I amended this issue with replacing Xatu with somebody who could Baton Pass Rock Polish or Agility?

Jolteon comes to mind but lacks bulk. What if I used a Zapdos or a Gliscor to pass speed to Zard? I could use Gliscor to also pass Swords Dance to Buck and round off the set with Taunt for phazers, he would benefit from water being weakened too. Toxic Orb for recovery. The Zapdos set would probably contain Thunderbolt for STAB and I could also pass relatively bulky subs. Lightningrod is always nice.

I was thinking of maybe using a pokemon who could pass Nasty Plot too but I can only think of Ambipom...

What do we think of all of this?

 

[Benlisted]

Well, Xatu Learns Tailwind, which is always an option to boost Zard's Speed and make him uncounterable for two turns - but the problem is Zard won't like switching in on things Xatu is on on (but the same goes for most Agil passers etc).

Personally I'd not try and cram a speed boost onto your team as there really doesn't seem to be the space. A better option would be to utilise T-Wave support to let Zard beat things that way, as well as other benefits, but none of your team really stick out as good abusers, so I'd say stick with what you have unless you encounter any huge issues, like not being able to climb the ladder higher - as doing something like removing Xatu to boost Zard's speed will make you very SR weak.