Hello everybody! This team I have put together uses one of my favorite pokemon, Chandelure, as well as a pokemon that has become considerably more popular this generation, Dugtrio. These two pokemon are used to address popular offensive and defensive threats, such as Chansey, Pheromosa, Heatran, Charizard-Mega X, Toxapex, and Metagross, so that the remainder of the team can function much more effectively. Typically games with this team tend to be shorter, because it is a fairly offensive team that uses the defensive core of Tapu Fini + Tangrowth to address common setup sweepers and pokemon that cannot be handled by Charizard.
Proof of Ranking:
Team Preview:
In the seventh generation, we have seen the rise of many new threats (Pheromosa, Tapu Koko, Toxapex), as well as the uptake in usage of older pokemon that received nice buffs (Mantine, Dugtrio, Mega-Metagross). I wanted to make a team that could address all of the above mentioned pokemon, without being too weak to any particular build style. In the past, I have built teams that could adequately answer both offense and stall, but struggled with more niche matchups, such as Trick Room. This ended up being a slower offensive team using two methods of trapping in Dugtrio + Tyranitar, with offensive pressure provided by Charizard – Mega Y. It is incredibly effective in most matchups, especially stall and balanced builds, although it handles offensive quite well by identifying win conditions, trapping priorities, and doing its best to control momentum.
Teambuilding Process:
A little while ago I was laddering with my friend and we ran across a substitute + calm mind Chandelure while testing a Volcarona-centered team. We were surprised by how effective Chandelure was at sponging some resisted hits, and heavily threatening our defensive core. I have mainly used Chandelure as a Choice Scarf abuser in the past, which is highly effective when the opponent has limited ghost and fire resists, but somewhat lackluster otherwise. I decided that Substitute + Calm Mind Chandelure seemed like a great idea to test out, because it hard counters Chansey, as well as Pheromosa, and is often able to avoid Pursuit trapping as well as a loss of momentum via Revenge-killing.
The next member of the team I decided to add was Tapu Fini. I knew that a stealth rock weakness in Chandelure meant trouble unless I had a reliable means of hazard removal, as well as a way to consistently check Greninja. I believe Tapu Fini is probably the most reliable defogger for offensive and balanced teams, with outstanding typing but an unfortunate lack of recovery.
After adding Tapu Fini, I wanted a way to consistently check Tapu Koko, as well as strong Ground Types that can threaten Chandelure. Tangrowth was chosen to be a defensive pivot. I must admit that Tangrowth has been one of my favorite pokemon to use on this team, because it can hit many pokemon for good damage, while also recovering up on a switch. It can chip away at offensive pokemon such as Metagross, and also come in freely on any landorus aside from the Supersonic Skystrike variants).
The next pokemon I decided to use was Timid-natured Flamethrower Charizard-Mega Y. I have used Char-Y on many of the teams I have posted to this forum, because in my opinion it is one of the most consistent Mega Evolutions to use in the OU metagame. I typically only use the Fire Blast set, and have experimented with bulky builds on hyper-offense teams in order to survive common hits from Metagross and Greninja, but have found in many longer games that Fire Blast PP can become an issue, and disliked the speed drop from using Modest Flamethrower builds when facing Jolly non-scarf Landorus among other pokemon. Despite the power drop from Fire Blast to flamethrower, Charizard is still extremely threatening, and many opponents are pressured to find a good response to the heat Char-Y and Chandelure provide.
In order to help Char-Y break down teams, I decided dugtrio would be an excellent way to handle defensive cores, as well as crucial offensive threats such as choice scarf electric types and Mega-Metagross. Dugtio is extremely viable right now on a variety of team archetypes, from stall to hyper offense. Dugtrio makes life extremely easy for Char-Y and Tangrowth when specially defensive Heatran is the stealth rock setter, as well as guarding Tyranitar + Tapu Fini from Bloom Doom variants. Dugtrio is an excellent emergency check to sweepers, and can trap and eliminate Toxapex provided there is no scald burn. Nihilego is another nuiscance that can be handled, provided Tyranitar must be kept healthy in order to address another member of the team.
The last pokemon I added to the team was my response to choice scarf Tapu Lele, the most common and dangerous scarf user in the current metagame. I have experimented with both Tyranitar and Weavile in this slot, knowing that Pursuit is probably the best answer to Choice Scarf Lele, but Weavile’s Pursuit is significantly weaker. They have both been quite effective, however each one opens alternative weaknesses. Tyranitar makes the team more threatened by Dugtrio, Mega-Pinsir, Ice-Weak Pokemon, and Metagross, while Weavile makes the team somewhat weaker to stall builds, Tapu KoKo, and generally cannot switch in to attacks that Tyranitar eats up. I would say that the Tyranitar variant is slightly better, because Pinsir is not exceptionally common, and many Ice-Weak pokemon can be handled by Tapu Fini + Tangrowth.
Team Sets & Analysis:
Win Condition +
Offensive Pivot
Chandelure @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
Sub + Calm Mind Chandelure can freely come in and set up on most Venusaur, Charizard-Y, Pheromosa, Chansey, non-HP Ground Volcoraona, and non-Night Slash Kartana, to name a few. This set is exceptionally useful at ending games vs stall teams, especially those without a toxapex, or those with only a physically defensive unaware wall. If the sun is up, Chandelure can 1v1 toxapex, even if they pack haze, although this window of opportuninty is limited depending on how physically defensive they are. Nonetheless, any stall opponent must play extremely carefully, or dugtrio can come in freely on a desperate haze. The main issue I have with this set is the only recovery being leftovers. I have used Calm Mind + Flamethrower Clefable many times in the ORAS metagame, and can say that Chandelure is comparable in effectiveness in the current metagame, being somewhat matchup dependent, but excellent given the right conditons.
Focus Sash Trapper
Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 21 HP
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
Dugtrio’s role on this team is incredibly simple: trap and eliminate at least one pokemon that is difficult to handle otherwise, or at least get stealth rocks up to pressure offensive teams that can handle dugtrio. Stealth Rocks are not really a priority for this team, as defog is used in almost every game anyways, but obviously they can be the difference between winning and losing matchups vs Charizard, Dragonite, Volcorona and Shedinja Stall. Having Stealth rocks on dugtrio is a near guarantee for win vs stall teams, because dugtrio can trap opposing dugtrio, toxapex, and Chansey, should the need arise, as well as force rocks up on a trapped pokemon. 21 HP EV’s are used to theoretically guarantee that Dugtrio can beat Chansey 1v1 by coming down to 1 HP in two Seismic Tosses for maximum Reversal power, but Dugtrio vs. Chansey is a much worse matchup than Chandelure vs Chansey, because the latter usually means more than one kill. Many opponents have been forced into their Sturdy Skarmory to whirlwind me out into Tapu Fini or Charizard, even bigger problems for their team.
Offensive Pressure
Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost
I really don’t know what to say about this set. It is highly consistent, but the lack of bulk on uninvested Charizard is really crappy sometimes. I think in the future I might experiment with a modest bulky Charizard, dropping the speed as low as to 263 stat, in order to use flamethrower to absurd spammability and still beat most faster pokemon. Timid flamethrower usually fails to KO defensive Lando-T, but after tangrowth’s giga drain it is a guaranteed KO. Play smart with Charizard, and keep its lack of bulk in mind, and you will usually find some success.
Bulky Trapper
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
OR
Fast Trapper
Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit
Choice Band Ttar is fairly simple to use. Sponge one or two strong attacks in the game, and eliminate a threat. Pursuit trapping is matchup dependent, and usually not worth the extra effort over spamming Stone Edge or Crunch. It is often times possible to pursuit trap Tapu Lele, which is incredibly important in the current metagame. It is not a Tapu Lele check, however. I have found that the secret to beating tapu lele is assuming that it is both Choice Scarf and non-Choice until I have either confirmed an item, or gathered enough suspicion to assume scarf. Band Tar loses 1v1 to Pinsir, but you can use it to bluff scarf, however you auto-lose if they stay in to kill you. As I mentioned above, I have used Weavile in this slot to avoid that problem, but having Sand Up is incredibly useful for Smeargle, Azelf, Shedinja, and any stray Focus Sash users that Ttar might otherwise check. Weavile is incredibly effective in conjunction with Charizard, however it does not hit as hard as TTar and still craves a coverage move if running pursuit. Weavile makes this team matchup better overall vs offensive teams.
Hazard Control +
Defensive Attacker
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 16 SpD / 72 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Defog
- Taunt
- Nature's Madness
Tapu Fini is hard body. Never underestimate Tapu Fini’s utility in any matchup, and use it as a frequent pivot in to and out of Tangrowth. Defog is necessary for Charizard, and extremely helpful in assisting Chandelure. Nature’s Madness is the most spammable move in the game, since the opponent cannot avoid taking that damage unless their name is Shedinja. Moonblast is used to threaten Utility Sableye, which otherwise can come in to bounce back a taunt. Tapu Fini has proven to be extremely rewarding to use, although I would say Zapdos is a more reliable defogger. Hazards don’t seem to be a big issue for this team, because Fini is able to defog on such a large portion of the tier. The EV spread is taken from the Smogon Analysis; it outspeeds defensive Landorus-T in theory, but in reality most run significant Speed Creep. I will most likely experiment with more speed creep on future teams, as the Fini-Rotom-Lando Speed tier is very speed-creepy.
*Edited to hit 225 Speed Stat, a number that very few Landorus and opposing Fini will creep to hit.
PIVOT + GLUE
Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Knock Off
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sludge Bomb
Tangrowth is amazing, sponging physical hits much easier than Amoongus, and having much more consistent pivoting and recovery than ferrothorn. Tangrowth can whittle away at Metagross, putting him in range of Dugtrio, and also threaten the omnipresent Tapu Koko. Assault Vest is used to patch up the shaky SpDef Stat on Tangrowth. I have tried both Sassy and Relaxed natures, and I think that Relaxed is slightly better overall, helping Tangrowth wall Zygarde, Gyrados, and Choice Scarf Landorus. I would highly recommend using Tangrowth if it is unfamiliar to you.
Conclusion & Threats:
This team is highly effective in the current metagame, however it is not without its flaws. Be wary of setup sweepers, as well as SD Bisharp and Mimikyu. Chandelure can check bisharp but must win at least one sucker punch 50/50. Mimikyu is difficult to check at +4 however if it only goes to +2 Charizard can check it. The team can be weak to Dragons if Tyranitar is used over weavile, however I would say that Weavile is really only more effective in Low-Ladder (< 1250 Elo) games where the speed and offensive pressure are appreciated. Most of the prominent offensive threats can be handled within the Ttar variation, however both versions are weak to Baton Pass.
This team is most effective against Stall and Bulky Offense teams, where it is easier to apply pressure with Charizard and abuse the trapping elements of this team. Against offensive teams, trapping is more difficult, especially if the opponent forces Dugtrio down to Focus Sash early on into the game.
Replays:
1) Versus Generic Shedinja Stall. Dugtrio cannot trap Chandelure due to its ghost typing making it immune to arena trap, so stall is pretty much counter-teamed. Some dugtrio carry pursuit, but it is relatively weak unless choice banded, and chandelure could theoretically stay in if it is revealed. Opposing dugtrio can be trapped by my own dugtrio after Tyranitar brings it down to focus sash, heavily limiting stall's counterplay.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-516435356
2) Versus Zard-X balance / bulky offense. Dugtrio is highly effective in these games if you can play safely. Double switching vs offense is encouraged to maximize tangrowth's recovery and potentially trap key pokemon.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-515897900
3) Versus Scizor + Trapping + Tapu Koko. Chandelure is free to switch into Pheromosa, while tapu koko is repeatedly walled by tangrowth. Non-choice tapu lele is eliminated with Dugtrio into Charizard.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-516441375
4) Versus Dragonite + Venusaur Bulky offense. Choice Band Tyranitar is able to check some boosted sweepers, however caution should be taken when doing so.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-516452588
5) Versus Trick room - Whittling the opponent's key Trick Room setters is usually a good idea before revealing taunt on tapu fini. There is limited opportunity for any of the opponents pokemon to sweep, and any single trick room is typically stalled out. Trapping magearna on Trick Room teams is an excellent idea, because they typically carry excellent coverage and are difficult to manage even when unboosted.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-516438181
Pastebin:
Please feel free to use this team, but if you do so please let me know what you would change! :]
Proof of Ranking:
Team Preview:
In the seventh generation, we have seen the rise of many new threats (Pheromosa, Tapu Koko, Toxapex), as well as the uptake in usage of older pokemon that received nice buffs (Mantine, Dugtrio, Mega-Metagross). I wanted to make a team that could address all of the above mentioned pokemon, without being too weak to any particular build style. In the past, I have built teams that could adequately answer both offense and stall, but struggled with more niche matchups, such as Trick Room. This ended up being a slower offensive team using two methods of trapping in Dugtrio + Tyranitar, with offensive pressure provided by Charizard – Mega Y. It is incredibly effective in most matchups, especially stall and balanced builds, although it handles offensive quite well by identifying win conditions, trapping priorities, and doing its best to control momentum.
Teambuilding Process:
A little while ago I was laddering with my friend and we ran across a substitute + calm mind Chandelure while testing a Volcarona-centered team. We were surprised by how effective Chandelure was at sponging some resisted hits, and heavily threatening our defensive core. I have mainly used Chandelure as a Choice Scarf abuser in the past, which is highly effective when the opponent has limited ghost and fire resists, but somewhat lackluster otherwise. I decided that Substitute + Calm Mind Chandelure seemed like a great idea to test out, because it hard counters Chansey, as well as Pheromosa, and is often able to avoid Pursuit trapping as well as a loss of momentum via Revenge-killing.
The next member of the team I decided to add was Tapu Fini. I knew that a stealth rock weakness in Chandelure meant trouble unless I had a reliable means of hazard removal, as well as a way to consistently check Greninja. I believe Tapu Fini is probably the most reliable defogger for offensive and balanced teams, with outstanding typing but an unfortunate lack of recovery.
After adding Tapu Fini, I wanted a way to consistently check Tapu Koko, as well as strong Ground Types that can threaten Chandelure. Tangrowth was chosen to be a defensive pivot. I must admit that Tangrowth has been one of my favorite pokemon to use on this team, because it can hit many pokemon for good damage, while also recovering up on a switch. It can chip away at offensive pokemon such as Metagross, and also come in freely on any landorus aside from the Supersonic Skystrike variants).
The next pokemon I decided to use was Timid-natured Flamethrower Charizard-Mega Y. I have used Char-Y on many of the teams I have posted to this forum, because in my opinion it is one of the most consistent Mega Evolutions to use in the OU metagame. I typically only use the Fire Blast set, and have experimented with bulky builds on hyper-offense teams in order to survive common hits from Metagross and Greninja, but have found in many longer games that Fire Blast PP can become an issue, and disliked the speed drop from using Modest Flamethrower builds when facing Jolly non-scarf Landorus among other pokemon. Despite the power drop from Fire Blast to flamethrower, Charizard is still extremely threatening, and many opponents are pressured to find a good response to the heat Char-Y and Chandelure provide.
In order to help Char-Y break down teams, I decided dugtrio would be an excellent way to handle defensive cores, as well as crucial offensive threats such as choice scarf electric types and Mega-Metagross. Dugtio is extremely viable right now on a variety of team archetypes, from stall to hyper offense. Dugtrio makes life extremely easy for Char-Y and Tangrowth when specially defensive Heatran is the stealth rock setter, as well as guarding Tyranitar + Tapu Fini from Bloom Doom variants. Dugtrio is an excellent emergency check to sweepers, and can trap and eliminate Toxapex provided there is no scald burn. Nihilego is another nuiscance that can be handled, provided Tyranitar must be kept healthy in order to address another member of the team.
The last pokemon I added to the team was my response to choice scarf Tapu Lele, the most common and dangerous scarf user in the current metagame. I have experimented with both Tyranitar and Weavile in this slot, knowing that Pursuit is probably the best answer to Choice Scarf Lele, but Weavile’s Pursuit is significantly weaker. They have both been quite effective, however each one opens alternative weaknesses. Tyranitar makes the team more threatened by Dugtrio, Mega-Pinsir, Ice-Weak Pokemon, and Metagross, while Weavile makes the team somewhat weaker to stall builds, Tapu KoKo, and generally cannot switch in to attacks that Tyranitar eats up. I would say that the Tyranitar variant is slightly better, because Pinsir is not exceptionally common, and many Ice-Weak pokemon can be handled by Tapu Fini + Tangrowth.
Team Sets & Analysis:
Win Condition +
Offensive Pivot
Chandelure @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
Sub + Calm Mind Chandelure can freely come in and set up on most Venusaur, Charizard-Y, Pheromosa, Chansey, non-HP Ground Volcoraona, and non-Night Slash Kartana, to name a few. This set is exceptionally useful at ending games vs stall teams, especially those without a toxapex, or those with only a physically defensive unaware wall. If the sun is up, Chandelure can 1v1 toxapex, even if they pack haze, although this window of opportuninty is limited depending on how physically defensive they are. Nonetheless, any stall opponent must play extremely carefully, or dugtrio can come in freely on a desperate haze. The main issue I have with this set is the only recovery being leftovers. I have used Calm Mind + Flamethrower Clefable many times in the ORAS metagame, and can say that Chandelure is comparable in effectiveness in the current metagame, being somewhat matchup dependent, but excellent given the right conditons.
Focus Sash Trapper
Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 21 HP
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
Dugtrio’s role on this team is incredibly simple: trap and eliminate at least one pokemon that is difficult to handle otherwise, or at least get stealth rocks up to pressure offensive teams that can handle dugtrio. Stealth Rocks are not really a priority for this team, as defog is used in almost every game anyways, but obviously they can be the difference between winning and losing matchups vs Charizard, Dragonite, Volcorona and Shedinja Stall. Having Stealth rocks on dugtrio is a near guarantee for win vs stall teams, because dugtrio can trap opposing dugtrio, toxapex, and Chansey, should the need arise, as well as force rocks up on a trapped pokemon. 21 HP EV’s are used to theoretically guarantee that Dugtrio can beat Chansey 1v1 by coming down to 1 HP in two Seismic Tosses for maximum Reversal power, but Dugtrio vs. Chansey is a much worse matchup than Chandelure vs Chansey, because the latter usually means more than one kill. Many opponents have been forced into their Sturdy Skarmory to whirlwind me out into Tapu Fini or Charizard, even bigger problems for their team.
Offensive Pressure
Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost
I really don’t know what to say about this set. It is highly consistent, but the lack of bulk on uninvested Charizard is really crappy sometimes. I think in the future I might experiment with a modest bulky Charizard, dropping the speed as low as to 263 stat, in order to use flamethrower to absurd spammability and still beat most faster pokemon. Timid flamethrower usually fails to KO defensive Lando-T, but after tangrowth’s giga drain it is a guaranteed KO. Play smart with Charizard, and keep its lack of bulk in mind, and you will usually find some success.
Bulky Trapper
Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
OR
Fast Trapper
Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit
Choice Band Ttar is fairly simple to use. Sponge one or two strong attacks in the game, and eliminate a threat. Pursuit trapping is matchup dependent, and usually not worth the extra effort over spamming Stone Edge or Crunch. It is often times possible to pursuit trap Tapu Lele, which is incredibly important in the current metagame. It is not a Tapu Lele check, however. I have found that the secret to beating tapu lele is assuming that it is both Choice Scarf and non-Choice until I have either confirmed an item, or gathered enough suspicion to assume scarf. Band Tar loses 1v1 to Pinsir, but you can use it to bluff scarf, however you auto-lose if they stay in to kill you. As I mentioned above, I have used Weavile in this slot to avoid that problem, but having Sand Up is incredibly useful for Smeargle, Azelf, Shedinja, and any stray Focus Sash users that Ttar might otherwise check. Weavile is incredibly effective in conjunction with Charizard, however it does not hit as hard as TTar and still craves a coverage move if running pursuit. Weavile makes this team matchup better overall vs offensive teams.
Hazard Control +
Defensive Attacker
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 16 SpD / 72 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Defog
- Taunt
- Nature's Madness
Tapu Fini is hard body. Never underestimate Tapu Fini’s utility in any matchup, and use it as a frequent pivot in to and out of Tangrowth. Defog is necessary for Charizard, and extremely helpful in assisting Chandelure. Nature’s Madness is the most spammable move in the game, since the opponent cannot avoid taking that damage unless their name is Shedinja. Moonblast is used to threaten Utility Sableye, which otherwise can come in to bounce back a taunt. Tapu Fini has proven to be extremely rewarding to use, although I would say Zapdos is a more reliable defogger. Hazards don’t seem to be a big issue for this team, because Fini is able to defog on such a large portion of the tier. The EV spread is taken from the Smogon Analysis; it outspeeds defensive Landorus-T in theory, but in reality most run significant Speed Creep. I will most likely experiment with more speed creep on future teams, as the Fini-Rotom-Lando Speed tier is very speed-creepy.
*Edited to hit 225 Speed Stat, a number that very few Landorus and opposing Fini will creep to hit.
PIVOT + GLUE
Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Knock Off
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sludge Bomb
Tangrowth is amazing, sponging physical hits much easier than Amoongus, and having much more consistent pivoting and recovery than ferrothorn. Tangrowth can whittle away at Metagross, putting him in range of Dugtrio, and also threaten the omnipresent Tapu Koko. Assault Vest is used to patch up the shaky SpDef Stat on Tangrowth. I have tried both Sassy and Relaxed natures, and I think that Relaxed is slightly better overall, helping Tangrowth wall Zygarde, Gyrados, and Choice Scarf Landorus. I would highly recommend using Tangrowth if it is unfamiliar to you.
Conclusion & Threats:
This team is highly effective in the current metagame, however it is not without its flaws. Be wary of setup sweepers, as well as SD Bisharp and Mimikyu. Chandelure can check bisharp but must win at least one sucker punch 50/50. Mimikyu is difficult to check at +4 however if it only goes to +2 Charizard can check it. The team can be weak to Dragons if Tyranitar is used over weavile, however I would say that Weavile is really only more effective in Low-Ladder (< 1250 Elo) games where the speed and offensive pressure are appreciated. Most of the prominent offensive threats can be handled within the Ttar variation, however both versions are weak to Baton Pass.
This team is most effective against Stall and Bulky Offense teams, where it is easier to apply pressure with Charizard and abuse the trapping elements of this team. Against offensive teams, trapping is more difficult, especially if the opponent forces Dugtrio down to Focus Sash early on into the game.
Replays:
1) Versus Generic Shedinja Stall. Dugtrio cannot trap Chandelure due to its ghost typing making it immune to arena trap, so stall is pretty much counter-teamed. Some dugtrio carry pursuit, but it is relatively weak unless choice banded, and chandelure could theoretically stay in if it is revealed. Opposing dugtrio can be trapped by my own dugtrio after Tyranitar brings it down to focus sash, heavily limiting stall's counterplay.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-516435356
2) Versus Zard-X balance / bulky offense. Dugtrio is highly effective in these games if you can play safely. Double switching vs offense is encouraged to maximize tangrowth's recovery and potentially trap key pokemon.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-515897900
3) Versus Scizor + Trapping + Tapu Koko. Chandelure is free to switch into Pheromosa, while tapu koko is repeatedly walled by tangrowth. Non-choice tapu lele is eliminated with Dugtrio into Charizard.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-516441375
4) Versus Dragonite + Venusaur Bulky offense. Choice Band Tyranitar is able to check some boosted sweepers, however caution should be taken when doing so.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-516452588
5) Versus Trick room - Whittling the opponent's key Trick Room setters is usually a good idea before revealing taunt on tapu fini. There is limited opportunity for any of the opponents pokemon to sweep, and any single trick room is typically stalled out. Trapping magearna on Trick Room teams is an excellent idea, because they typically carry excellent coverage and are difficult to manage even when unboosted.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebankou-516438181
Pastebin:
http://pastebin.com/heZm7gcK
Please feel free to use this team, but if you do so please let me know what you would change! :]
Last edited:
