Hey guys! This will be my first RMT on the Smogon Forums! Although I've done some RMT on NuggetBridge for VGC teams, this will be my first time doing this with a team using Smogon rules. I'm still pretty beginner when it comes to competitive battling, so any advice and help with this team would be greatly appreciated!
Team building process:
I definitely wanted to use Mega Pinsir and because it needs a Rapid Spinner to get Stealth Rocks out of the way, I paired it up with Starmie to form a Mega Pinsir/Starmie core. Starmie can Rapid Spin Stealth Rocks out of the way. Mega Pinsir utilizes physical attacks to sweep while Starmie uses special attacks. The other four members will attempt to complement these two.
Both of these members had a weakness to electric types and I needed a bulky member to soak in these attacks, so I opted for a bulky Garchomp. Garchomp provides some needed bulkiness to the team and also can apply Stealth Rocks to the other team, weakening opponents to be swept by Mega Pinsir later in the match.
Now, I had a weakness to ice types, and needed patch this up. I needed a specially defensive member as well, and Heatran seemed to fit, as it is four times resistant to ice and is specially defensive. Heatran and Garchomp seem to have a little bit of overlap when it comes to utility (Toxic, Stealth Rocks) so some changes may be made later on.
I wanted to add a Pivot in order to keep some momentum going and I also needed some more offensive pressure on the team. I decided to add Scizor on the team for some additional typing. Because both Scizor and Mega Pinsir are weak to fire attacks, switching in Heatran to soak them in and get a Flash Fire boost would also be beneficial.
I wanted to round the team off with a support type team member and decided on Sylveon to act as a cleric, clearing status from my other team members, should they become burned or paralyzed.
Sets and Descriptions:
Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
The main Pokemon I wanted to base the team around. The EV spread is pretty standard, maxing out attack do do as much damage as possible, while maxing out speed and pairing it with a Jolly nature in order to outspeed opponents with a base 100 speed. Hyper Cutter ability will be used in order to prevent Intimidate drops while Pinsir has not Mega evolved.
Swords Dance is used to raise attack and sweep through the enemy team late game. Return, boosted by Aerilate and STAB does a tremendous amount of damage while Quick attack also receives the same Aerilate and STAB bonus, but gets priority. I opted for Earthquake instead of Close Combat because Scizor’s Superpower already has fighting coverage.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin
The core pairing for Mega Pinsir, Starmie is able to clear hazards, namely Stealth Rocks away for Mega Pinsir to come in, set up, and sweep. Starmie holds a Life Orb in order to increase damage output. Despite running maximum speed investment, the Analytic ability allows for Starmie to do much more damage if the opponent decides to switch on it. Maximum special attack investment is to maximize damage possible.
Hydro Pump and Psyshock are important STAB moves for Starmie to deal damage with, while Ice Beam provides type coverage, taking down flying types that may prove threatening to Mega Pinsir. Rapid Spin is essential on this set, as it is used to remove Stealth Rocks for Mega Pinsir.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 76 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Toxic - Endure
Garchomp is used to soak up electric type attacks that threaten both Starmie and Mega Pinsir. With an impish nature, it can withstand physical attacks well and Rocky Helmet + Rough Skin will deal tons of damage to opponents who decide to use contact moves on it. Some special defense investment is needed in order to survive Gengar and Mega Charizard Y.
Stealth Rock is used to set hazards up for the other team, and because of this, Garchomp may be used as a lead. Earthquake is Garchomp’s main STAB move and Dragon Tail, while also gaining the STAB boost, is used for forcibly switching out opponents who are attempting to set up. Finally,Toxic whittles down the health of defensive tanks. I decided to relace Toxic with Endure as I changed Heatran's set into one with Toxic. Because of Garchomp's rough skin, Endure can be used to rack up additional residual damage on physical sweepers.
Heatran @Leftovers Power Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs:248 HP / 192 SpD / 68 Spe 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature Timid Nature
- Lava Plume - Magma Storm
- Protect - Solar Beam
- Taunt - Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp - Toxic
Although Heatran provides needed defensive typing for the team, its role seems to overlap with Garchomp and I did not want Heatran to have more of an offensive role. Its investment in HP and special defense allow Manectric and Raikou to only 3HKO Heatran instead of 2HKO, and Heatran can withstand many other special attacks as well. Leftovers is the preferred item in order to have a constant source of recovery.
Laval Plume is the STAB attack for Heatran to deal damage. I substituted Toxic on Heatran for Will-O-Wisp, as I already had a Toxic user in Garchomp and I took out Stealth Rocks as well, as Garchomp fulfills that utility as well. As a result, I added Taunt to prevent set ups and Protect in order to stall for Toxic/Will-O-Wisp damage. Will-O-Wisp also cripples physical attackers.
Decided to change the specially defensive Heatran set into a Mental Herb/Solarbeam Heatran set, as Lone revealed my team's weakness to bulky water types and its hindrance on a Mega Pinsir sweep. Mental Herb Solarbeam would be able to get rid of these threats easily and allow Pinsir an easier time to set up and sweep.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Scizor provides some offense on my team as well as a bit of bulk. Maximum attack investment is for hitting as hard as possible while achieving some bulk with the maximum HP investment. Choice Band is for Scizor to hit enemies even harder.
Bullet Punch provides a priority STAB attack for Scizor, while U-turn allows Scizor to switch out and bait attacks that would otherwise be supereffective to gain momentum. Superpower takes care of steel types such as Ferrothorn and Heatran while Pursuit can trap psychic and ghost types that may be switching out.
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Hyper Voice
Sylveon provides utility in the form of Heal Bell, being able to cure status from sweepers. The maximum EV investment in HP and defense, paired with a Bold nature is used to maximize physical bulk. Leftovers provides additional recovery in conjunction to the Wish/Protect combo and Pixilate gives Hyper Voice a STAB boost in damage as well.
Wish/Protect allow Sylveon to heal up safely, in addition to the Leftovers. It also allows stalling when against an opponent afflicted with poison or burn. Heal Bell is used to keep Mega Pinsir and Starmie healthy if they have status, and Hyper Voice allows Sylveon to deal respectable damage.
Thanks for reading! I would appreciate any advice or improvements I can make!
Importable:
Team building process:
I definitely wanted to use Mega Pinsir and because it needs a Rapid Spinner to get Stealth Rocks out of the way, I paired it up with Starmie to form a Mega Pinsir/Starmie core. Starmie can Rapid Spin Stealth Rocks out of the way. Mega Pinsir utilizes physical attacks to sweep while Starmie uses special attacks. The other four members will attempt to complement these two.
Both of these members had a weakness to electric types and I needed a bulky member to soak in these attacks, so I opted for a bulky Garchomp. Garchomp provides some needed bulkiness to the team and also can apply Stealth Rocks to the other team, weakening opponents to be swept by Mega Pinsir later in the match.
Now, I had a weakness to ice types, and needed patch this up. I needed a specially defensive member as well, and Heatran seemed to fit, as it is four times resistant to ice and is specially defensive. Heatran and Garchomp seem to have a little bit of overlap when it comes to utility (Toxic, Stealth Rocks) so some changes may be made later on.
I wanted to add a Pivot in order to keep some momentum going and I also needed some more offensive pressure on the team. I decided to add Scizor on the team for some additional typing. Because both Scizor and Mega Pinsir are weak to fire attacks, switching in Heatran to soak them in and get a Flash Fire boost would also be beneficial.
I wanted to round the team off with a support type team member and decided on Sylveon to act as a cleric, clearing status from my other team members, should they become burned or paralyzed.
Sets and Descriptions:
Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
The main Pokemon I wanted to base the team around. The EV spread is pretty standard, maxing out attack do do as much damage as possible, while maxing out speed and pairing it with a Jolly nature in order to outspeed opponents with a base 100 speed. Hyper Cutter ability will be used in order to prevent Intimidate drops while Pinsir has not Mega evolved.
Swords Dance is used to raise attack and sweep through the enemy team late game. Return, boosted by Aerilate and STAB does a tremendous amount of damage while Quick attack also receives the same Aerilate and STAB bonus, but gets priority. I opted for Earthquake instead of Close Combat because Scizor’s Superpower already has fighting coverage.
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin
The core pairing for Mega Pinsir, Starmie is able to clear hazards, namely Stealth Rocks away for Mega Pinsir to come in, set up, and sweep. Starmie holds a Life Orb in order to increase damage output. Despite running maximum speed investment, the Analytic ability allows for Starmie to do much more damage if the opponent decides to switch on it. Maximum special attack investment is to maximize damage possible.
Hydro Pump and Psyshock are important STAB moves for Starmie to deal damage with, while Ice Beam provides type coverage, taking down flying types that may prove threatening to Mega Pinsir. Rapid Spin is essential on this set, as it is used to remove Stealth Rocks for Mega Pinsir.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 76 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
Garchomp is used to soak up electric type attacks that threaten both Starmie and Mega Pinsir. With an impish nature, it can withstand physical attacks well and Rocky Helmet + Rough Skin will deal tons of damage to opponents who decide to use contact moves on it. Some special defense investment is needed in order to survive Gengar and Mega Charizard Y.
Stealth Rock is used to set hazards up for the other team, and because of this, Garchomp may be used as a lead. Earthquake is Garchomp’s main STAB move and Dragon Tail, while also gaining the STAB boost, is used for forcibly switching out opponents who are attempting to set up. Finally,
Heatran @
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs:
Although Heatran provides needed defensive typing for the team, its role seems to overlap with Garchomp and I did not want Heatran to have more of an offensive role. Its investment in HP and special defense allow Manectric and Raikou to only 3HKO Heatran instead of 2HKO, and Heatran can withstand many other special attacks as well. Leftovers is the preferred item in order to have a constant source of recovery.
Laval Plume is the STAB attack for Heatran to deal damage. I substituted Toxic on Heatran for Will-O-Wisp, as I already had a Toxic user in Garchomp and I took out Stealth Rocks as well, as Garchomp fulfills that utility as well. As a result, I added Taunt to prevent set ups and Protect in order to stall for Toxic/Will-O-Wisp damage. Will-O-Wisp also cripples physical attackers.
Decided to change the specially defensive Heatran set into a Mental Herb/Solarbeam Heatran set, as Lone revealed my team's weakness to bulky water types and its hindrance on a Mega Pinsir sweep. Mental Herb Solarbeam would be able to get rid of these threats easily and allow Pinsir an easier time to set up and sweep.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Scizor provides some offense on my team as well as a bit of bulk. Maximum attack investment is for hitting as hard as possible while achieving some bulk with the maximum HP investment. Choice Band is for Scizor to hit enemies even harder.
Bullet Punch provides a priority STAB attack for Scizor, while U-turn allows Scizor to switch out and bait attacks that would otherwise be supereffective to gain momentum. Superpower takes care of steel types such as Ferrothorn and Heatran while Pursuit can trap psychic and ghost types that may be switching out.
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Hyper Voice
Sylveon provides utility in the form of Heal Bell, being able to cure status from sweepers. The maximum EV investment in HP and defense, paired with a Bold nature is used to maximize physical bulk. Leftovers provides additional recovery in conjunction to the Wish/Protect combo and Pixilate gives Hyper Voice a STAB boost in damage as well.
Wish/Protect allow Sylveon to heal up safely, in addition to the Leftovers. It also allows stalling when against an opponent afflicted with poison or burn. Heal Bell is used to keep Mega Pinsir and Starmie healthy if they have status, and Hyper Voice allows Sylveon to deal respectable damage.
Thanks for reading! I would appreciate any advice or improvements I can make!
Importable:
Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 76 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Endure
Heatran @ Power Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Solar Beam
- Taunt
- Toxic
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Hyper Voice
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 76 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Endure
Heatran @ Power Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Solar Beam
- Taunt
- Toxic
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Hyper Voice
Last edited:
