Im gonna retire this after seeing that it works - I'm not interested in laddering with any sort of team so whatever. Just wanted to know what do you think about this.
Team at a Glance
Syclant @ Focus Sash
Timid - Compoundeyes
4 Atk/252 Sp Atk/252 Spd
- Blizzard
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
- Ice Shard
This Syclant made an awesome lead against many different threats. Thanks to the unexpected combination of Taunt + Ice Shard, two often neglected moves on the icicle monster, Syclant will surprise and destroy many common leads such as Aerodactyl, Azelf, Fidgit, and even the odd Lucario or Scizor (and, in Fidgit's case, generally preventing its setup). It will struggle against Tyranitar, though, since even Focus Blast cant OHKO the Careful variants and is OHKOed in return thanks to Stone Edge and Explosion. Sometimes, however, Blissey pops out early in the game, and this is a nice opportunity to scout her moveset thanks to Taunt. Of course, there always is the possibility of being toasted up by Flamethrower, but even this reveals at least something of my opponent's movepool. And, as you will see later, knowing which set runs blissey is crucial to my strategy.
Revenankh @ Leftovers
Careful - Shed Skin
252 HP/120 Def/136 Sp def
- Rest
- Hammer Arm
- Shadow Sneak
- Bulk Up
Standard Revenankh. This is my default switch into Blissey, since it can soak up both status moves and attacks. The only things which really worry Revenankh are mainly Skarmory and Hyppowdon, because they will simply roar him away without taking too much damage from a +1 Hammer Arm. Shaymin-S of course forces him out too, but the flying pixie meets swiftily a Zapdos switch in, so it is not much of an issue.
Pyroak @ Leftovers
Bold - Battle Armor
252 HP/16 Def/240 Sp def
- Leech Seed
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Synthesis
Maybe the only filler on my team. I only needed something which could take an hit here and there and so I chose Pyroak. Probably there are better replacements, so I'm open to suggestions.
Stratagem @ Leftovers
Timid - Technician
4 HP/ 252 Sp atk/252 Spd
IVs: 28/30/30/31/28/30 (Sp def last)
- Calm Mind
- Ancientpower
- Giga Drain
- HP Flying [59]
"The best special sweeper in the game, with the possible exception of Jirachi. Raikou is one of the Pokémon that forces people to use standards"
These words seem to echo soundly through the crystalline limbs of Stratagem. As many people already said, Stratagem is arguably what Raikou used to be in Advance, that kind of Special Monster that almost force you to use Blissey. Most people, however, stll thing Stratagem actually is Raikou and think they can beat him the old way, ie. Seismic Tossing away. What Raikou didnt have, and what actually makes Stratagem the only, pure special sweeper this side of Lucario which is able to come all over the fat pink blob. This special mentin is mainly due to Giga Drain. After 2 CMs or 3, the health received through leeching will eventually exceed the damage dealt by Seismic Toss, and so Stratagem will slowly regain health. In the meantime, Blissey will Softboil, unaware that what may seem a necessity is actually a fatal error. Every turn Blissey spend healing, in fact, is a free turn for Stratagem to Calm Mind. And when 6 CMs are under its belt, nothing apart from bullet punch, mach punch, aqua jet and physical scarfers can really stop something with 394 Speed and 1344 Sp atk. The only threat to this strategy is Toxic, a move which some Blissey happen to carry, maybe reminiscing their Uber experiences. Stratagem cant really afford to be Toxiced, but by the time you face Blissey with Stratagem you whould already realized which set the pink wall is running
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Bold - Pressure
252 HP/220 Def/36 Spd
IVs 30/28/31/31/30/31/ (Sp def last)
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- HP Grass [68]
There are pokemon who took a hit with every generation, like poor Exxegcutor. There are pokemon who where firstly BL, knew the injury of UU and then came back rampant into OU metagame, like Gyarados. There are pokemon who knew a first upgrade but then a dramatic fall in grace like Snorlax. And there are pokemon who never fall from the highlights of OU. Certainly Zapdos is one of these. Paraphrasing the opinion of Farfetch'd posted on D/P analysis, it seems like some member of the Game Freak always had a soft spot for the thundering bird, and tried to sneak in a little gift or 2 for it in every gen shift. G/S/C brought him the Resttalk combo. R/S/E made a top tier Baton Passer out of him. D/P gifted the legendary bird with the godsend that Roost has been, and even the Platinum update packed a nice Heat Wave to deal with Steels and friends.
As you may have realized from this long introduction, Zapdos is very crucial for my team. It counters so many threats one would not be able to list them all here - Choice Tyranitar and Heatran just to name a few. Pressure and Roost work perfectly together to drain opponent PPs, and Revenankh help him getting the upper hand against Blissey. In a word, Zapdos is a monster.
Blissey @ Leftovers
Bold - Natural Cure
84 HP/252 Def/172 Sp atk
- Ice Beam
- Seismic Toss
- Softboiled
- Thunderwave
Onestly, I have never been a fan of Blissey, a thing you can catch from how much I focus my attention on destroying her^^ But with all these Stratagems around, Blissey is the only reliable answer, as long as I dont know which set the rockmon is running. BTW, is also a good answer to many other special threats such as Shaymin-S, so it is not overly specialized. And, talking about Shaymin-S, the Sp atk EVs given grant a OHKO with Ice beam, unless it runs defensive EVs.
So, here is the team, probably I need some other way to deal with Blissey, since once I lose Revenankh I no longer have safe switch ins. Im obviously open to suggestions, so, rate up
P.S.: Just pointing out - you will have realized it now - that no other pokemon since the very starting days of R/B/Y ever took the place in my heart which will always belong to the thunder lord Zapdos^^
Timid - Compoundeyes
4 Atk/252 Sp Atk/252 Spd
- Blizzard
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
- Ice Shard
This Syclant made an awesome lead against many different threats. Thanks to the unexpected combination of Taunt + Ice Shard, two often neglected moves on the icicle monster, Syclant will surprise and destroy many common leads such as Aerodactyl, Azelf, Fidgit, and even the odd Lucario or Scizor (and, in Fidgit's case, generally preventing its setup). It will struggle against Tyranitar, though, since even Focus Blast cant OHKO the Careful variants and is OHKOed in return thanks to Stone Edge and Explosion. Sometimes, however, Blissey pops out early in the game, and this is a nice opportunity to scout her moveset thanks to Taunt. Of course, there always is the possibility of being toasted up by Flamethrower, but even this reveals at least something of my opponent's movepool. And, as you will see later, knowing which set runs blissey is crucial to my strategy.
Revenankh @ Leftovers
Careful - Shed Skin
252 HP/120 Def/136 Sp def
- Rest
- Hammer Arm
- Shadow Sneak
- Bulk Up
Standard Revenankh. This is my default switch into Blissey, since it can soak up both status moves and attacks. The only things which really worry Revenankh are mainly Skarmory and Hyppowdon, because they will simply roar him away without taking too much damage from a +1 Hammer Arm. Shaymin-S of course forces him out too, but the flying pixie meets swiftily a Zapdos switch in, so it is not much of an issue.
Pyroak @ Leftovers
Bold - Battle Armor
252 HP/16 Def/240 Sp def
- Leech Seed
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Synthesis
Maybe the only filler on my team. I only needed something which could take an hit here and there and so I chose Pyroak. Probably there are better replacements, so I'm open to suggestions.
Stratagem @ Leftovers
Timid - Technician
4 HP/ 252 Sp atk/252 Spd
IVs: 28/30/30/31/28/30 (Sp def last)
- Calm Mind
- Ancientpower
- Giga Drain
- HP Flying [59]
"The best special sweeper in the game, with the possible exception of Jirachi. Raikou is one of the Pokémon that forces people to use standards"
These words seem to echo soundly through the crystalline limbs of Stratagem. As many people already said, Stratagem is arguably what Raikou used to be in Advance, that kind of Special Monster that almost force you to use Blissey. Most people, however, stll thing Stratagem actually is Raikou and think they can beat him the old way, ie. Seismic Tossing away. What Raikou didnt have, and what actually makes Stratagem the only, pure special sweeper this side of Lucario which is able to come all over the fat pink blob. This special mentin is mainly due to Giga Drain. After 2 CMs or 3, the health received through leeching will eventually exceed the damage dealt by Seismic Toss, and so Stratagem will slowly regain health. In the meantime, Blissey will Softboil, unaware that what may seem a necessity is actually a fatal error. Every turn Blissey spend healing, in fact, is a free turn for Stratagem to Calm Mind. And when 6 CMs are under its belt, nothing apart from bullet punch, mach punch, aqua jet and physical scarfers can really stop something with 394 Speed and 1344 Sp atk. The only threat to this strategy is Toxic, a move which some Blissey happen to carry, maybe reminiscing their Uber experiences. Stratagem cant really afford to be Toxiced, but by the time you face Blissey with Stratagem you whould already realized which set the pink wall is running
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Bold - Pressure
252 HP/220 Def/36 Spd
IVs 30/28/31/31/30/31/ (Sp def last)
- Roost
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- HP Grass [68]
There are pokemon who took a hit with every generation, like poor Exxegcutor. There are pokemon who where firstly BL, knew the injury of UU and then came back rampant into OU metagame, like Gyarados. There are pokemon who knew a first upgrade but then a dramatic fall in grace like Snorlax. And there are pokemon who never fall from the highlights of OU. Certainly Zapdos is one of these. Paraphrasing the opinion of Farfetch'd posted on D/P analysis, it seems like some member of the Game Freak always had a soft spot for the thundering bird, and tried to sneak in a little gift or 2 for it in every gen shift. G/S/C brought him the Resttalk combo. R/S/E made a top tier Baton Passer out of him. D/P gifted the legendary bird with the godsend that Roost has been, and even the Platinum update packed a nice Heat Wave to deal with Steels and friends.
As you may have realized from this long introduction, Zapdos is very crucial for my team. It counters so many threats one would not be able to list them all here - Choice Tyranitar and Heatran just to name a few. Pressure and Roost work perfectly together to drain opponent PPs, and Revenankh help him getting the upper hand against Blissey. In a word, Zapdos is a monster.
Blissey @ Leftovers
Bold - Natural Cure
84 HP/252 Def/172 Sp atk
- Ice Beam
- Seismic Toss
- Softboiled
- Thunderwave
Onestly, I have never been a fan of Blissey, a thing you can catch from how much I focus my attention on destroying her^^ But with all these Stratagems around, Blissey is the only reliable answer, as long as I dont know which set the rockmon is running. BTW, is also a good answer to many other special threats such as Shaymin-S, so it is not overly specialized. And, talking about Shaymin-S, the Sp atk EVs given grant a OHKO with Ice beam, unless it runs defensive EVs.
So, here is the team, probably I need some other way to deal with Blissey, since once I lose Revenankh I no longer have safe switch ins. Im obviously open to suggestions, so, rate up
P.S.: Just pointing out - you will have realized it now - that no other pokemon since the very starting days of R/B/Y ever took the place in my heart which will always belong to the thunder lord Zapdos^^
