Hey! So, I've frequented the smogon forums for a long time, and I only recently decided to delve into team building. I noticed I could make a very nice core with Excadrill, Gyarados, and Mega Manectric. Sort of like a F/W/G core, these three counter each others weaknesses very well. So anyway, lets jump in!
The team at a Glance
The Team In-Depth
The Kill-Everythingers:The team at a Glance
The Team In-Depth
Excadrill @
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
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- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
After a Swords Dance or two, Excadrill cuts through teams like rubber. Combined with the Life Orb, not much can withstand his might. Earthquake destroys Electric types, that are usually outsped by Excadrill after Sand Rush. Rock Slide provides a way of killing flying types if Manectric can't, and is especially useful against things like Talonflame and Char Y. Bug types like Scolipede, even after one Protect/Speed Boost,(which can be used to Swords Dance) are also outsped and countered. While this set doesn't utilize Rapid Spin, Mew can Defog any annoying hazards. Overall, Excadrill is a very solid pokemon.
EDIT: Following the Suggestions by Rob. I removed SD for Rapid Spin and Life Orb for Air Balloon as that would allow room for Taunt on Mew which would be useful for stallbreaking, and Air Balloon to give it a pseudo Ground Immunity. Thanks!
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
-
Kinda like Excadrill, after a Dragon Dance or two, Gyarados is a monser to behold. The Nature means he hits for max powe, and the Leftovers are just to heal itself a bit, really. Avalanche can check Dragon Types, and are great after switch-ins because if they hit, Avalanche is going to hit a lot harder. Waterfall provides STAB and a useful flinch chance, and Bulldoze has decent coverage and also lowers opponent's speed, which can be extremely useful.
EDIT: Rob. also suggested removing Bulldoze for a STAB Bounce. I thought this was a good idea as with DD Lowering Speed was not very important.
Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
The final piece of the G.E.M. core, Manectric is very fast and really adds to the team. Outspeeding virtually everything, it hits really hard, especially with Thunderbolt. It checks fly-spam as well as Tyranitar, and can use Volt Switch for some decent damage and to get out if it's in a bad situation. Flamethrower provides very nice coverage, killing grass types that would otherwise be a problem, and HP Ice also has some nice coverage, killing Garchomp, Dragonite, and other Dragon Types. It also doesn't really need anything to set up unlike the other two and can start killing teams straight away. Overall, It fits in very nicely.
The Support
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 220 HP / 24 Atk / 196 Def / 68 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Rock Slide
-
Tyranitar's main job is providing sand for Excadrill, but it is also very useful at pursuit trapping stuff like Gengar and the Lati twins. The EVs are just to make sure it has enough bulk to survive a while, and also so that its attacks do decent damage. It can set up SR which can be very useful, and alongside Manectric is a Bird Spam check. Ice Punch has very nice coverage and is very useful, especially against Dragon Types like Garchomp and Dragonite Rock Slide has STAB and hits pretty hard.
EDIT: Rob. also suggested Fire Blast over Ice Punch to take care of Ferrothorn.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
- Seismic Toss
- Wish
Basically your standard Wish Passing Chansey set. Soft Boiled is a reliable way of healing itself and proves very useful. Wish can get any of it's teammates back to basically full health. Seismic Toss can reliably chip away at opponents, and Heal Bell gets rid of annnoying Burns and Toxics. Eviolite just to add bulk, blah blah blah, you get the idea. The Nature boosts Defense, which is useful, and lowers attack, which Chnasey doesnt really need.
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 224 HP / 4 Atk / 104 Def / 24 SpD / 152 Spe
Impish Nature
-
-
- Will-O-Wisp
- Knock Off
The final member! Mew adds a way to get rid if hazards and to impair physical attackers with will o wisp. Knock Off is actually really useful and get rids of annoying items. Zen Headbutt provides a STAB, with the attack Evs making sure it does decent damage. The rest of the Evs just add general bulk and speed, and the nature makes sure it isn't hit that hard from physical attacks. Overall, he really helps out.
EDIT:Another suggestion by Rob. was to replace ZH with Soft Boiled so Mew could heal itself, and now that Excadrill has Rapid Spin, to replace Defog with Taunt so I could mess up stallers like Chansey/Blissey or Skarmory. This opinion was shared by Dokkerich.
Thanks guys! I hope you like my team!
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