Hello, this is the first team I've made from scratch in a very long time, and I would like some help polishing it up after I've done quite a few test battles. I'll be going pretty in depth to explain my choices, since some of them may seem weird at first glance. But without further ado, let's get into it.
Team building process:
When I first started out with this team, I really wanted to make a balanced team that I could be versatile with the play style. I already had a team like that, but I realized that it was very weak to stall, and wanted to see if I could fix that with a new team. I remembered the Regenerator core of Alomomola and Amoonguss and started off with that. It's a solid core that I can switch freely between without worry of wearing down my main defenses. Plus I've been using Alomomola a lot recently and want another excuse to keep using it. So that's what I decided to start with.
Next, I wanted to make sure that my team wasn't weak to stall. I already had a really defensive core that lacked offensive pressure, so I wanted a pokemon that could be a huge offensive threat, especially against stall. Gliscor seemed like a perfect fit, as it can be immune to any statuses, as long as something doesn't go horribly wrong on that turn where I wait for Toxic Orb to kick in. It's an overall good pokemon, so it was the third pokemon I chose.
This is where things get a little weird. I love playing stall, so I know what pokemon I'm most likely going to come across, and there was still one pokemon that could wreck me, Quagsire. I wanted a threat that could eliminate that pokemon, so I originally chose Serperior. However, that left me pretty weak to flying types, so I eventually settled on Rotom-Mow. I've never seen it used before, and I like having curveballs on my team, and after a few battles, I decided to keep it. It keeps defensive threats like Quagsire and Skarmory at bay, and provides some nice offensive momentum with Volt Switch. So, Rotom-Mow made its way onto the team.
Next, there were only two slots to fill with the hazard setter, and hazard remover. I spent a long time looking at Stealth Rock setters, and decided Heatran would make the cut. It's a solid pokemon with a lot of defensive capabilities without sacrificing too much power. I only had one fire resist with Alomomola, and considering I still needed a really good switch in for Charizard X, Heatran seemed like a good option. So, Heatran became my Stealth Rocks setter.
Lastly, I need a way to clear those hazards. Since my team doesn't rely on entry hazards to deal a large amount of damage, I didn't have a preference between Rapid Spin and Defog. My first thought was Excadrill since I had never used it before, but having two offensive ground types seemed a bit redundant, so it was between Skarmory and Starmie. I settled on Skarmory because of the extra utility and variety of sets to choose from, and the metal bird rounded out my team.
Pokemon sets:
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Scald
Alomomola is a seriously underrated defensive threat, in my opinion. Its main job is to tank those physical hits and pass huge wishes onto teammates. When I say huge, I mean entire health bars. I've been using it on a couple teams now, and I'm still surprised at how well it can tank hits. People just don't expect the bulk. Protect is there for the obvious synergy, while Toxic and Scald try their best to keep opponents from setting up on it. Regenerator is an amazing ability, and allows me to pass wishes without having to worry about Alomomola's health getting low. Overall, it's a solid pokemon that I can rely on to do its job very well. I originally had a Rocky Helmet, but decided to switch over to Leftovers, since I could never seem to get those contact moves, and Leftovers is a bit more reliable.
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Spore
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Amoonguss rounds out the core with some really good synergy. When paired with Alomomola, I can almost freely switch between them, since they cover such a wide variety of types. I'm wondering if I should switch over to a more specially defensive build, since Alomomola has a physically defensive one, but Amoonguss seems to be tanking those special hits just fine. I don't think I need to explain why Spore is there, so let's move on. Sludge Bomb is there for extra coverage, and to deal with Clefable a little easier and fairy types in general. Giga Drain is there for some self healing, and HP Fire is to help my team with Ferrothorn, who would otherwise be a huge threat. I originally had Clear Smog, but I wasn't using it that much, and Ferrothorn was being a rather large nuisance. Alomomola and Amoonguss form a great core, and I can tell my opponents are struggling a lot to break through it.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 8 Def / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Roost
This guy is my main set up sweeper. He's immune to any status after Toxic Orb kicks in, immune to spikes, and is a hard pokemon to deal with in general. After a Swords Dance boost, Gliscor can OHKO a lot of things, and it's not hard to see why. Earthquake is just a great move in general, making a powerful STAB move for Gliscor to abuse. I decided to go with Knock Off as a second attack move, since it still deals respectable damage and the utility is nice. Roost is to make sure Gliscor never dies, ever. I was skeptical at first, but I've ended up using it a few times, so it seems like a good move to round off the set.
Rotom-Mow @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Trick
Alright, now it's time for the pokemon that will probably raise the most eyebrows. The more I thought about it, the more this guy seemed to fit, and when I actually got to battling, my suspicions were confirmed. Rotom-Mow actually makes a good counter-lead, and has some good tricks up its sleeve. Like I said before, this guy keeps Quagsire and Skarmory in check, and I find that I'm able to get a lot of Volt Switches off. It turns out people don't want to switch in their ground types with a potential Leaf Storm coming their way. I think Rotom-M takes a lot of people off guard, and I'm able to do a lot with it. I decided with a Choice Scarf set since my team was pretty slow, and I really needed some speed. It has worked out really well so far, and the immunity to earthquakes is always nice. I was considering another attack move in the last slot, but I found Trick to be more tempting to shut down defensive pokemon.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 188 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Lava Plume
This is your standard Stealth Rocks set, and it's been working out pretty well for me. I'm really considering trading out Taunt for another attack, probably Earth Power, since I hardly ever seem to use it. I needed a counter to Charizard X and Mega-Sableye, and since Heatran is immune to Flare Blitz and Will-O-Wisp respectively, it seemed to fit. Considering I have two flying types and a Levitate user, the ground weakness doesn't bother me, and Heatran has been putting in a lot of work. A solid set for a solid pokemon, not much to say here.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
This is the pokemon I'm probably the most iffy about. Not that Skarmory hasn't had its moments on my team, but I'm wondering if having another defensive pokemon is a bit too much. Skarmory does keep quite a few pokemon in check, though, like Mega Pinsir, who I would otherwise really struggle against. The metal bird does have its place on my team, and I like the phasing set I'm using. I'm not worried about using Defog, since my team doesn't rely on hazards to win, and the survivability is great. Overall, a really solid pokemon that I can't complain about.
Threats:
Ferrothorn is definitely my biggest threat right now. Once Heatran is gone, my only hope is to either HP Fire it to death, or Trick it a Choice Scarf. I'm not sure what to change on my team to relieve me of this plant, but it's a pain whenever I see one on the enemy team. Ferrothorn is the only pokemon I'd say I have a flat out weakness to, but there are probably more I just haven't faced or recognized yet.
Opposing Gliscor can also be a problem if I'm not careful. Rotom-Mow makes quick work of them, but one wrong play and I'm in serious trouble.
Heatran is also a pokemon I tend to struggle against quite a bit. I have Gliscor and Alomomola to take care of it, but the former can't really switch in on it without taking some serious damage, and can't stay in if Heatran has a balloon. If this thing is paired up with Ferrothorn, it only makes things worse.
There's definitely more threats out there, but from what I have faced, those three are the only pokemon I consistently have trouble against. Any help against them would be great.
Conclusion:
Overall, I really like this team. It has a lot of synergy and I'm finding a lot of success with it. Plus bringing up Rotom-Mow from RU is an added bonus since I love to break the meta. There really isn't one weak pokemon on the team, so I don't think a big overhaul is required, but there are battles that feel really clunky to me. What I mean is that I think there are a few things that can be smoothed out about the team, and that I need some help spotting them. I'm not very good with EV spreads either, so if they can be optimized please let me know. I spent a long time creating this team, and I think I did a good job, so let me know what you think!
Team building process:
When I first started out with this team, I really wanted to make a balanced team that I could be versatile with the play style. I already had a team like that, but I realized that it was very weak to stall, and wanted to see if I could fix that with a new team. I remembered the Regenerator core of Alomomola and Amoonguss and started off with that. It's a solid core that I can switch freely between without worry of wearing down my main defenses. Plus I've been using Alomomola a lot recently and want another excuse to keep using it. So that's what I decided to start with.
Next, I wanted to make sure that my team wasn't weak to stall. I already had a really defensive core that lacked offensive pressure, so I wanted a pokemon that could be a huge offensive threat, especially against stall. Gliscor seemed like a perfect fit, as it can be immune to any statuses, as long as something doesn't go horribly wrong on that turn where I wait for Toxic Orb to kick in. It's an overall good pokemon, so it was the third pokemon I chose.
This is where things get a little weird. I love playing stall, so I know what pokemon I'm most likely going to come across, and there was still one pokemon that could wreck me, Quagsire. I wanted a threat that could eliminate that pokemon, so I originally chose Serperior. However, that left me pretty weak to flying types, so I eventually settled on Rotom-Mow. I've never seen it used before, and I like having curveballs on my team, and after a few battles, I decided to keep it. It keeps defensive threats like Quagsire and Skarmory at bay, and provides some nice offensive momentum with Volt Switch. So, Rotom-Mow made its way onto the team.
Next, there were only two slots to fill with the hazard setter, and hazard remover. I spent a long time looking at Stealth Rock setters, and decided Heatran would make the cut. It's a solid pokemon with a lot of defensive capabilities without sacrificing too much power. I only had one fire resist with Alomomola, and considering I still needed a really good switch in for Charizard X, Heatran seemed like a good option. So, Heatran became my Stealth Rocks setter.
Lastly, I need a way to clear those hazards. Since my team doesn't rely on entry hazards to deal a large amount of damage, I didn't have a preference between Rapid Spin and Defog. My first thought was Excadrill since I had never used it before, but having two offensive ground types seemed a bit redundant, so it was between Skarmory and Starmie. I settled on Skarmory because of the extra utility and variety of sets to choose from, and the metal bird rounded out my team.
Pokemon sets:
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Scald
Alomomola is a seriously underrated defensive threat, in my opinion. Its main job is to tank those physical hits and pass huge wishes onto teammates. When I say huge, I mean entire health bars. I've been using it on a couple teams now, and I'm still surprised at how well it can tank hits. People just don't expect the bulk. Protect is there for the obvious synergy, while Toxic and Scald try their best to keep opponents from setting up on it. Regenerator is an amazing ability, and allows me to pass wishes without having to worry about Alomomola's health getting low. Overall, it's a solid pokemon that I can rely on to do its job very well. I originally had a Rocky Helmet, but decided to switch over to Leftovers, since I could never seem to get those contact moves, and Leftovers is a bit more reliable.
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Spore
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Amoonguss rounds out the core with some really good synergy. When paired with Alomomola, I can almost freely switch between them, since they cover such a wide variety of types. I'm wondering if I should switch over to a more specially defensive build, since Alomomola has a physically defensive one, but Amoonguss seems to be tanking those special hits just fine. I don't think I need to explain why Spore is there, so let's move on. Sludge Bomb is there for extra coverage, and to deal with Clefable a little easier and fairy types in general. Giga Drain is there for some self healing, and HP Fire is to help my team with Ferrothorn, who would otherwise be a huge threat. I originally had Clear Smog, but I wasn't using it that much, and Ferrothorn was being a rather large nuisance. Alomomola and Amoonguss form a great core, and I can tell my opponents are struggling a lot to break through it.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 8 Def / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Roost
This guy is my main set up sweeper. He's immune to any status after Toxic Orb kicks in, immune to spikes, and is a hard pokemon to deal with in general. After a Swords Dance boost, Gliscor can OHKO a lot of things, and it's not hard to see why. Earthquake is just a great move in general, making a powerful STAB move for Gliscor to abuse. I decided to go with Knock Off as a second attack move, since it still deals respectable damage and the utility is nice. Roost is to make sure Gliscor never dies, ever. I was skeptical at first, but I've ended up using it a few times, so it seems like a good move to round off the set.
Rotom-Mow @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Trick
Alright, now it's time for the pokemon that will probably raise the most eyebrows. The more I thought about it, the more this guy seemed to fit, and when I actually got to battling, my suspicions were confirmed. Rotom-Mow actually makes a good counter-lead, and has some good tricks up its sleeve. Like I said before, this guy keeps Quagsire and Skarmory in check, and I find that I'm able to get a lot of Volt Switches off. It turns out people don't want to switch in their ground types with a potential Leaf Storm coming their way. I think Rotom-M takes a lot of people off guard, and I'm able to do a lot with it. I decided with a Choice Scarf set since my team was pretty slow, and I really needed some speed. It has worked out really well so far, and the immunity to earthquakes is always nice. I was considering another attack move in the last slot, but I found Trick to be more tempting to shut down defensive pokemon.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 188 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Lava Plume
This is your standard Stealth Rocks set, and it's been working out pretty well for me. I'm really considering trading out Taunt for another attack, probably Earth Power, since I hardly ever seem to use it. I needed a counter to Charizard X and Mega-Sableye, and since Heatran is immune to Flare Blitz and Will-O-Wisp respectively, it seemed to fit. Considering I have two flying types and a Levitate user, the ground weakness doesn't bother me, and Heatran has been putting in a lot of work. A solid set for a solid pokemon, not much to say here.
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Brave Bird
This is the pokemon I'm probably the most iffy about. Not that Skarmory hasn't had its moments on my team, but I'm wondering if having another defensive pokemon is a bit too much. Skarmory does keep quite a few pokemon in check, though, like Mega Pinsir, who I would otherwise really struggle against. The metal bird does have its place on my team, and I like the phasing set I'm using. I'm not worried about using Defog, since my team doesn't rely on hazards to win, and the survivability is great. Overall, a really solid pokemon that I can't complain about.
Threats:
Ferrothorn is definitely my biggest threat right now. Once Heatran is gone, my only hope is to either HP Fire it to death, or Trick it a Choice Scarf. I'm not sure what to change on my team to relieve me of this plant, but it's a pain whenever I see one on the enemy team. Ferrothorn is the only pokemon I'd say I have a flat out weakness to, but there are probably more I just haven't faced or recognized yet.
Opposing Gliscor can also be a problem if I'm not careful. Rotom-Mow makes quick work of them, but one wrong play and I'm in serious trouble.
Heatran is also a pokemon I tend to struggle against quite a bit. I have Gliscor and Alomomola to take care of it, but the former can't really switch in on it without taking some serious damage, and can't stay in if Heatran has a balloon. If this thing is paired up with Ferrothorn, it only makes things worse.
There's definitely more threats out there, but from what I have faced, those three are the only pokemon I consistently have trouble against. Any help against them would be great.
Conclusion:
Overall, I really like this team. It has a lot of synergy and I'm finding a lot of success with it. Plus bringing up Rotom-Mow from RU is an added bonus since I love to break the meta. There really isn't one weak pokemon on the team, so I don't think a big overhaul is required, but there are battles that feel really clunky to me. What I mean is that I think there are a few things that can be smoothed out about the team, and that I need some help spotting them. I'm not very good with EV spreads either, so if they can be optimized please let me know. I spent a long time creating this team, and I think I did a good job, so let me know what you think!
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