Other Good Cores

[thedeafelectrician]

Am I allowed to ask about a core not specifically for use on here, per se- rather, just for random Wi-Fi battles?
Would adding AV Tyranitar and/or Gengar to the MenceWile combo mentioned previously work? I am relatively new to all this, so feel free to critique. If by some miracle those four are feasible on the same team, what teammates would complement them nicely? This is for random wifi battles ony, not for use on this site.

AV t-tar could work fine, the only thing you would want if you added it is an answer to strong water types since surf + ice beam will hit everything at least neutrally, and even AV t-tar can only be switched in so many times since it has no recovery.

Gengar kind of fits, it just depends what you want it to do. It obviously can't be mega since mawile has to be, but all 3 other attackers are physical so the special attacking life orb set would work alright.

I would try and be more specific, but it's genuinely hard for me to remember which stuff is pokebank and which things are in game so far in terms of what pokes to cover.

 

[Colossus]

The team would look something like:

Mawile
Adamant@Mawilite
EVs TBD
Rough Play
Iron Head
Sucker Punch
Swords Dance

Salamence
Naive?@Item TBD
EVs TBD
Dragon Claw/Outrage
Earthquake
Fire Blast
Dragon Dance

Tyranitar
Adamant/Careful/Sassy@ Assault Vest
EVs TBD
Crunch / Payback
Pursuit
Stone Edge / Ice Beam / Fire Blast
Superpower / Low Kick
Note: Might just go full physical and let teammates handle special 'mons

Gengar
Timid@Life Orb
Standard Sweeper EVs (4/252/252)
Shadow Ball
Sludge Bomb/Wave
Thunderbolt
Dazzling Gleam

I'm not too sure really...would Azumarill help mitigate the Water/Ice attacks at all?

 

[TravisAxel]

Id imagine Gastrodon, Togekiss and Goodra working well together. Im working them into my team now.

 

[Pidgey Airlines]

Note:

I'm looking for suggestiosn what to add.
This Pre-Pokebox, ingame.
(So, no tiers - limited movepools)

Scolipede
252HP / 252 Defense
Speed Boost
Bold /Impish
Black Sludge

(Toxic /)Spikes / Protect / Substitute
Protect /Substitute
Iron Defense
Baton Pass

Espeon
252HP /252 Sdef
Magic Bounce
Calm
Leftovers

Wish
Stored Power /Psychic
Calm Mind
Baton Pass

Clefable
252HP / 252 SpA
Unaware
Modest
Lum Berry (I dare you Klefki...)

Moon Blast
Stored Power
Calm Mind /Amnesia
Soft Boiled E/: Wanted to breed it, just noticed it isn't available; -> use Moonlight


The idea is quite simple:
Grab buffs, baton pass.
Baton pass to Espeon when then enemy swapps in a Roar / Whirlwind guy.
Swap to Clefable (unaware) if your opponent decides to setup as well.
Baton pass to Espeon / Scolipede depending on what your opponent spawns in.

Weaknesses:
-In case you don't manage to get enough boosts you have 2 completely useless Pokemon.
-Poor coverage

Suggested Pokemon to fill the Team:

-Dragonite: Already tanky, good swap in for BP
-Qwilfish: Nice defense typing, strong hazards -> good since both teams will swap a lot
-Blaziken: SD / BU + BP make this a solid addition, however - very squishy
-(Mega-) Tyranitar: Can set up SR and sweep at the same time. Solid Bulk. Has viable mixed sweep options.

-Mega Kangaskhan: Great attacker, with BP'd defense and speed this mon can clear whole teams
-Mega-Gyrados: Intimidate gives great swap in possibilities
-Mega Absol: Can Replace Espeon // draws great power freom Iron defense, difficult to stop.








So, any suggestions, what to add / swap?
(Again, pre-Pokebox! Ingame)

 

[RowDog]

^ Pidgey Airlines
Not bad, I'd suggest another good counter to a Dark-type Pokemon in the team as they will wall Stored Power or always run Calm Mind>Amnesia. Alternatively you could run Aromatherapy over one of Clefable's attacking moves to continually get rid of status as the consumption of a Lum Berry isn't going to stop them from trying again, and then you could run Leftovers so that you don't have to use Soft Boiled as much (if you get rid of Moonblast that Dark-type counter will be even more crucial). Or you could run Rest over Soft Boiled and a Chesto Berry if you are going for a tanky monster Pokemon, the 3 turns of Rest shouldn't matter too much (unless they land a crit).

Might also want to run an attacking move on Scolipede just in case, like Mega Horn which would be good for getting rid of Dark-types.

It is always fun using Unaware Clefable to boost its defences, they always try to boost their own Pokemon, but it never works :D Gimmicky, but not bad core.

 

[MythosXIII]

So I figured I'd chime in about a core I thought of. I'm pretty new to all this, so please let me know if my idea is flawed.

Metagross and Exploud. Sure, it's mostly an offensive core, but I feel the typing works well. Metagross's Steel/Psychic Typing resists a lot of stuff, except for the Ghost/Dark change in Gen 6. That's where Exploud comes in. Got Metagross out and your opponent has Aegislash or a Gengar about to Mega-Evolve? Switch out to Exploud on the incoming Shadow Sneak/Ball, and then proceed to attack with either Focus Blast or Boomburst (as long as your Exploud has Scrappy, which I'm fairly certain it should have.)

Granted, this isn't a pitch-perfect strategy, especially when they out-predict you, since this isn't a particularly complex combo. There's also the shared Fighting weakness, so I'm looking for how to counter that.

 

[TheCuttingEdge]

Not a full core, I originally picked these two to support Mega-Mawile, covering all weaknesses except Ground for each other. After a full day today testing and battling at an X and Y battle event, what I thought was an okay idea using Pokemon I liked, turned out to be far more than I imagined:

Goodra @Assault Vest
Sap Sipper
252HP/252SpA/4Spe Modest (its been a while, might be wrong)

Draco Meteor
Flamethrower
Thunderbolt
Dragon Tail

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
252HP/252Def/4SpDef Bold
Water Absorb
Scald
Toxic
Wish
Protect

Nothing groundbreaking here, but they worked so well M-Mawile spent a lot of battles just watching these two take teams apart. I've become a huge fan of Dragon Tail on Goodra, especially since I was using an entry hazard lead Smeargle. Passing Wishes back to the sponge is fantastic, and by rotating allows for more full-power Meteors.

I'm honestly thinking of starting over and building around these two instead.

 

[Pidgey Airlines]

^ Pidgey Airlines
Not bad, I'd suggest another good counter to a Dark-type Pokemon in the team as they will wall Stored Power or always run Calm Mind>Amnesia. Alternatively you could run Aromatherapy over one of Clefable's attacking moves to continually get rid of status as the consumption of a Lum Berry isn't going to stop them from trying again, and then you could run Leftovers so that you don't have to use Soft Boiled as much (if you get rid of Moonblast that Dark-type counter will be even more crucial). Or you could run Rest over Soft Boiled and a Chesto Berry if you are going for a tanky monster Pokemon, the 3 turns of Rest shouldn't matter too much (unless they land a crit).

Might also want to run an attacking move on Scolipede just in case, like Mega Horn which would be good for getting rid of Dark-types.

It is always fun using Unaware Clefable to boost its defences, they always try to boost their own Pokemon, but it never works :D Gimmicky, but not bad core.

Thanks for the answer!

Dark types are exactly why I chose Moon Blast and another Reason to use Clefable instead of Quagsire.
!In theory! Espeon / Scoli should have given Clefeble enough buffs so it can kill a Klefki swapping into your attack in the first turn after its Prankster Thunderwave.

Rest Chesto sounds like a good idea, I'm still scared about being unable to do anything within those turn though (Whirlwind / Roar, since I can't BP back to Espeon)

Running Leftovers on Clefeble would be troublesome since I already gave 'em to Espeon.

As for Sclipede; I have been running Adamant ; Megahorn / SD / ID /BP Scoli ingame and I found myself dieing easily.
That's why IU decided to use the Sub / Protect "Toxic Heal" strategy which is also used by Gligar.
This way - even If I can't BP ID - I can !savely! BP more speed boosts which equal damage on Stored Power users.

 

[Sazoon]

With the reboot of the old sleeping mechanics, Rest can imho definitely be called "reliable", though something like slack off is still preferable.


1. Both your conclusions are right, though the second one is more important due to Hydreigons trollish awkward Speed tier. But even more important is that Dragonite absolutely needs spinning or defog support given his SR weakness, so that any core with Dragonite will need a spinner, too, as well as the fact that Dragonite is more reliable in the role of a one-time setup-sweeper as in a core.

2. Bulky Ground-Types, like Mamoswine, should be able to deal with it easily, as well as hitting any switch-in reasonably hard. As soon as galvantula is dealt with, just change in a flying-type/levitating defogger and the opponent is basically one pokemon down without any advantages. Though if you want to be able to set SR right from the start, it might be preferable to use rapid spin; However, all spinners are grounded(if I'm not forgetting anyone right now), so they won't like sticky web, and it's likely that the opponent will have a ghost type just for this occasion, so defog is more reliable.

Poor claydol and cryoganal

 

[MagicMissingno]

So I currently have an RMT for a stall team with this core

Yuuka (Ferrothorn) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Power Whip
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed

Mokou (Rotom-Heat) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Thunder Wave

Wakasagihime (Tentacruel) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Haze

And there's this one guy that keeps telling me to switch to Rotom-Wash and Heatran but he doesn't give much about it.

For Rotom-Wash he suggests 248 hp/ 238 Sdef / 28 spe. With hydropump/ volt switch/ will wisp / pain split and for Heatran he just suggests 252 hp/ 228 spdef/ 24 def. Should I change my core because I'm risking another fighting weakness on my team. For reference my last three members are a cleric Sylveon, Assault Vest Conkuldurr, and Mega stone Bukly SD Scizor.

 

[Kaka-Sensei]

The metagame right now is in favor of pivots and fast, strong, and threatening attacks. If you can't block or evade these constant blows, your team with be pummeled in no time. This is why it is important to have a strong, brutal 2-3 man offensive core. Here's one of my favorites that I have come up with, the GEL Core (Gyarados, Excadrill, Latios).

GEL Core - The Core at a Glance

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Eartquake
- Iron Head
- Shadow Claw
- Rock Slide

Weaknesses: Ground, Water, Fighting, Fire

Resistances: Bug, Dragon, Psychic, Normal, Steel, Fairy, Flying, Rock

Immunities: Electric, Poison

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Roost

Weaknesses: Bug, Dragon, Ice, Dark, Fairy, Ghost

Resistances: Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Fighting

Immunities: Ground

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Weaknesses (ante-Mega): Electric, Rock

Resistances (ante-Mega): Bug, Fire, Water, Fighting, Steel

Immunities (ante-Mega): Ground

Weaknesses (post-Mega): Electric, Fighting, Grass, Bug, Fairy

Resistances (post-Mega): Fire, Water, Ice, Steel, Dark, Ghost

Immunities (post-Mega): Psychic

In short, what we have here are 3 amazing sweepers. Excadrill and Latios both require no set-up, however Gyarados may require a Dragon Dance or a mega-evo (usually both) in order to set up a sweep. However, the main goal of these three are not only to sweep, but to create synergy.

GEL Core - Synergy: Looks good on Paper

Excadrill's four weaknesses, (water, fire, fighting, and ground) are all resisted/immunized by both Latios and Gyarados (ante-Mega).

Half of Latios's weaknesses (bug, dragon, fairy) are resisted by Excadrill, while the other half ( ghost, dark, ice) are resisted by Gyarados (post-Mega)

All of Gyarados's (ante-Mega) weaknesses are immunized/ resisted by Excadrill while Latios resists electric

Half of Gyarados's (post-Mega) weaknesses (grass, fighting) are resisted by Latios while the other half (bug, fairy) are resisted by Excadrill.

GEL Core - Handling Offensive Threats

Aegislash can generally be approached by Gyarados/Megados because of Intimidate and his SDef bulk and conveniently opposing defensive typing (watch out for Sacred Sword variants)
+2 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Iron Head vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 129-152 (38.8 - 45.7%)
252- SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 88-104 (26.5 - 31.3%)
+2 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 130-153 (39.1 - 46%)
+2 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Sacred Sword vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 145-171 (43.6 - 51.5%)
+1 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Sacred Sword vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 334-394 (100.6 - 118.6%)

Remember 252 Adamant Aegislash will always OHKO Megados with +1 Sacred Sword
Gyarados handles Talonflame easily with Intimidate and Waterfall
-1 252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 127-151 (38.2 - 45.4%)
-1 252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 97-115 (29.2 - 34.6%)
Excadrill and Megados both can surprise Levitate users i.e. Rotom-W with Mold Breaker Earthquakes.
Scarf Genesect is Dragon Dance fodder to Gyarados.
Greninja doesn't like facing Gyarados.
Azumarill is a huge threat to the core. Aqua Jet kills Excadrill, Play Rough kills Latios, and it tanks Gyarados's attacks and demolishes his Mega. Your best bet will probably be to set up the Dragon Dances, hope you don't get hit by Play Rough's 90 acc., and Earthquake with post-Mega Gyarados.
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 217-256 (65.3 - 77.1%)
+2 252+ Atk Mega Gyarados Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 328-386 (81.1 - 95.5%)
They'll probably be running Belly Drum though, so you can be somewhat assured that they won't hit that hard in the first turn, and you can KO Azumarill a lot easier.
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 207-243 (51.2 - 60.1%)
Latios can also 2HKO if Play Rough misses :) (or OHKO after a Belly Drum [no sitrus])
Or you could run a seperate anti-Azumarill utility (Heliolisk/Ferrothorn/Tentacruel/etc.).

GEL Core - Handling Defensive Threats

I'm a little Ferrothorn weak here, but I guess you could run HP Fire over Surf on Latios if you feel the need. Draco Meteor usually rips apart all non-Steel/Fairies that aren't pink and blobby.

Excadrill rips through Steel/Fairies (except Skarmory/Azumarill) and pokemon that are pink and blobby. Kills Levitators such as Gengar and Rotom-W

Gyarados doesn't like facing Ferrothorn or things that phaze like Skarmory. But it's like a steamroller; once it gets going, it gets going.

All in all, GEL seems like a decent offensive core that has solid typingand stat synergy. I first usdPlease give suggestions

 

[EternalZ]

The metagame right now is in favor of pivots and fast, strong, and threatening attacks. If you can't block or evade these constant blows, your team with be pummeled in no time. This is why it is important to have a strong, brutal 2-3 man offensive core. Here's one of my favorites that I have come up with, the GEL Core (Gyarados, Excadrill, Latios).

GEL Core - The Core at a Glance

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Eartquake
- Iron Head
- Shadow Claw
- Rock Slide

Weaknesses: Ground, Water, Fighting, Fire

Resistances: Bug, Dragon, Psychic, Normal, Steel, Fairy, Flying, Rock

Immunities: Electric, Poison

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Roost

Weaknesses: Bug, Dragon, Ice, Dark, Fairy, Ghost

Resistances: Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Fighting

Immunities: Ground

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Weaknesses (ante-Mega): Electric, Rock

Resistances (ante-Mega): Bug, Fire, Water, Fighting, Steel

Immunities (ante-Mega): Ground

Weaknesses (post-Mega): Electric, Fighting, Grass, Bug, Fairy

Resistances (post-Mega): Fire, Water, Ice, Steel, Dark, Ghost

Immunities (post-Mega): Psychic

In short, what we have here are 3 amazing sweepers. Excadrill and Latios both require no set-up, however Gyarados may require a Dragon Dance or a mega-evo (usually both) in order to set up a sweep. However, the main goal of these three are not only to sweep, but to create synergy.

GEL Core - Synergy: Looks good on Paper

Excadrill's four weaknesses, (water, fire, fighting, and ground) are all resisted/immunized by both Latios and Gyarados (ante-Mega).

Half of Latios's weaknesses (bug, dragon, fairy) are resisted by Excadrill, while the other half ( ghost, dark, ice) are resisted by Gyarados (post-Mega)

All of Gyarados's (ante-Mega) weaknesses are immunized/ resisted by Excadrill while Latios resists electric

Half of Gyarados's (post-Mega) weaknesses (grass, fighting) are resisted by Latios while the other half (bug, fairy) are resisted by Excadrill.

GEL Core - Handling Offensive Threats

Aegislash can generally be approached by Gyarados/Megados because of Intimidate and his SDef bulk and conveniently opposing defensive typing (watch out for Sacred Sword variants)
+2 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Iron Head vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 129-152 (38.8 - 45.7%)
252- SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 88-104 (26.5 - 31.3%)
+2 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 130-153 (39.1 - 46%)
+2 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Sacred Sword vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 145-171 (43.6 - 51.5%)
+1 252+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Sacred Sword vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 334-394 (100.6 - 118.6%)

Remember 252 Adamant Aegislash will always OHKO Megados with +1 Sacred Sword
Gyarados handles Talonflame easily with Intimidate and Waterfall
-1 252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 127-151 (38.2 - 45.4%)
-1 252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 97-115 (29.2 - 34.6%)
Excadrill and Megados both can surprise Levitate users i.e. Rotom-W with Mold Breaker Earthquakes.
Scarf Genesect is Dragon Dance fodder to Gyarados.
Greninja doesn't like facing Gyarados.
Azumarill is a huge threat to the core. Aqua Jet kills Excadrill, Play Rough kills Latios, and it tanks Gyarados's attacks and demolishes his Mega. Your best bet will probably be to set up the Dragon Dances, hope you don't get hit by Play Rough's 90 acc., and Earthquake with post-Mega Gyarados.
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 217-256 (65.3 - 77.1%)
+2 252+ Atk Mega Gyarados Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 328-386 (81.1 - 95.5%)
They'll probably be running Belly Drum though, so you can be somewhat assured that they won't hit that hard in the first turn, and you can KO Azumarill a lot easier.
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 207-243 (51.2 - 60.1%)
Latios can also 2HKO if Play Rough misses :) (or OHKO after a Belly Drum [no sitrus])
Or you could run a seperate anti-Azumarill utility (Heliolisk/Ferrothorn/Tentacruel/etc.).

GEL Core - Handling Defensive Threats

I'm a little Ferrothorn weak here, but I guess you could run HP Fire over Surf on Latios if you feel the need. Draco Meteor usually rips apart all non-Steel/Fairies that aren't pink and blobby.

Excadrill rips through Steel/Fairies (except Skarmory/Azumarill) and pokemon that are pink and blobby. Kills Levitators such as Gengar and Rotom-W

Gyarados doesn't like facing Ferrothorn or things that phaze like Skarmory. But it's like a steamroller; once it gets going, it gets going.

All in all, GEL seems like a decent offensive core that has solid typingand stat synergy. I first usdPlease give suggestions

Wow, that is an amazing core. I'm going to test it out now, however I do have one question- why did you not run the calcs on a +1 Talon? In the event that Talonflame has set up, can your Gyara take it? Let's take a look:

+1 252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 286-337 (86.1 - 101.5%)


He doesn't fare well. That severely cripples Gyara, and COULD KO you. Let's try with Mega Gyarados.

+1 252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 219-258 (65.9 - 77.7%)


Man. Either you need to be very wary of Talonflame and do everything you can to make sure he does NOT set up, or you run Rotom-W/A Rock type. Just some food for thought.

(Also, no one ever saw this)

An interesting defensive core I've been using is Offensive Pivot Lando-T/Specially Defensive Empoleon as a 2-mon core, and I added Celebi on some teams to make a 3-mon core. Here're the sets:

Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Flash Cannon/Roar/Knock Off
- Defog

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Spd / 172 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 220 SDef / 252 HP / 36 Spd
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Giga Drain
- Heal Bell
- Thunder Wave/Toxic/Psychic

These three pokemon compliment each other well. The biggest threat I could see for this core is potentially Talonflame. Celebi goes around healing it's team members and providing paralysis/toxic support, Lando-T does what it does best: stopping physical attackers and gaining momentum. Empoleon is an nice defensive Pokemon, and it's resistances are quite handy. It clears hazards off the field and burns unsuspecting physical attackers thinking they can get the jump on Empoleon. This core alone stops a lot of pokemon in the tier, and shows off Empoleon's defensive capabilities in the OU environment.

Alternatively, Gourgeist-Super could be used in place of Celebi who brings similar resistances and utility. Gliscor could also be used over Landorus-T, however their roles would be different.

Gourgeist-Super @ Leftovers
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
- Seed Bomb

(Psst, and alternate core would be specially defensive empoleon/physically defensive tangrowth/specially defensive WoW rotom-H)

 

[Kaka-Sensei]

Wow, that is an amazing core. I'm going to test it out now, however I do have one question- why did you not run the calcs on a +1 Talon? In the event that Talonflame has set up, can your Gyara take it? Let's take a look:

+1 252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 286-337 (86.1 - 101.5%)


He doesn't fare well. That severely cripples Gyara, and COULD KO you. Let's try with Mega Gyarados.

+1 252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gyarados: 219-258 (65.9 - 77.7%)


Man. Either you need to be very wary of Talonflame and do everything you can to make sure he does NOT set up, or you run Rotom-W/A Rock type. Just some food for thought.

(Also, no one ever saw this)

An interesting defensive core I've been using is Offensive Pivot Lando-T/Specially Defensive Empoleon as a 2-mon core, and I added Celebi on some teams to make a 3-mon core. Here're the sets:

Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Flash Cannon/Roar/Knock Off
- Defog

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 88 Spd / 172 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 220 SDef / 252 HP / 36 Spd
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Giga Drain
- Heal Bell
- Thunder Wave/Toxic/Psychic

These three pokemon compliment each other well. The biggest threat I could see for this core is potentially Talonflame. Celebi goes around healing it's team members and providing paralysis/toxic support, Lando-T does what it does best: stopping physical attackers and gaining momentum. Empoleon is an nice defensive Pokemon, and it's resistances are quite handy. It clears hazards off the field and burns unsuspecting physical attackers thinking they can get the jump on Empoleon. This core alone stops a lot of pokemon in the tier, and shows off Empoleon's defensive capabilities in the OU environment.

Alternatively, Gourgeist-Super could be used in place of Celebi who brings similar resistances and utility. Gliscor could also be used over Landorus-T, however their roles would be different.

Gourgeist-Super @ Leftovers
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
- Seed Bomb

(Psst, and alternate core would be specially defensive empoleon/physically defensive tangrowth/specially defensive WoW rotom-H)

Thanks, dude. I forgot to mention that Excadrill can revenge-kill Talonflame about 90% of the time with Rock Slide; I just wanted to show that Gyarados can take him as a more reliable revenger when necessary.

Nice Empoleon/Landorus-T/Celebi core! Just watch out for Bolt/Beam or Mega Alakazam w/ Signal Beam and Focus Blast. Also make note of that steel nerf

 

[EternalZ]

Hm, you're right. That would mean the most ideal core (with four defensive members) would be Tyranitar, Gourgeist, Gliscor/Landorus-T, and Empoleon. Another interesting thought is that Ttar could drop his defensive capabilities and carry a Choice Band, while Gourgeist can Trick-Or-Treat foes, switch in TTar, and TTar picks them off with his STAB now-super-effective Pursuit.

 

[THATSAplusONE]

I've really been liking the defensive as well as offensive typing I get from Blisssey/Togekiss in singles.
Togekiss with full HP/Defence and Blissey with Full Defense/SP.Attack

Both get access to Serene Grace so the hax is strong. Also they cover eachothers weaknesses pretty well. All of the things Togekiss is weak to are usually special attacks so Blissey can wall them out no problem.

 

[CSchuldiner]

I want to make a team with jolly charizard x and a chesto/lum impish trevenant, can anyone suggest some pokemon to use with them? I want to have FWG and need a rapid spinner so I was thinking starmie or gyrados with excadrill as a rapid spinner.

 

[FurryGah]

I've been working on a few cores. I'm trying to make a core around Assault Vest Tyranitar. Here's what I've got currently:

Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Sand Stream
Careful 252 HP / 36 Atk / 220 SpD
-Crunch
-Stone Edge
-Earthquake
-Iron Head

Salamence @ Leftovers / Rocky Helmet
Intimidate
Impish 252 HP / 60 Atk / 196 Def
-Roost
-Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Fire Fang

Scizor @ Leftovers
Technician
Impish 252 HP / 48 Atk / 176 Def / 32 SpD
-Roost
-Bullet Punch
-Pursuit
-U-turn

I've also been trying to make a core with these two:

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Regenerator
Bold 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
-Slack Off
-Psychic
-Scald
-Ice Beam

Amoongus @ Black Sludge
Regenerator
Calm 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
-Synthesis
-Spore
-Giga Drain
-Sludge Bomb

For the life og me I can't seem to figure out the third perfect member of this core!

 

[Hopkinc1]

I can see "Drag Tag" teams becoming a thing with Mega Gengar....they are pretty much the same as DragMag teams, except you run Mega Gengar instead. This helps take out any fairies that can potentially kill off your dragons. Of course People will say "well coverage moves can get rid of fairies, so why would this work?" well same thing with Steel Types but Magnezone was still seen all over the place with two dragon sweeper Pokes. Just something to think about.

 

[EternalZ]

A Specially Defensive Tyranitar and Physically Defensive WoW SubSeed set work pretty well together.

Jester (Gourgeist-Super) @ Leftovers
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
- Seed Bomb

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream/Unnerve
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpDef
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast

They cover each others weaknesses well, with only Steel (lol) not being resisted here.

 

[SpaceFlare]

I want to make a team with jolly charizard x and a chesto/lum impish trevenant, can anyone suggest some pokemon to use with them? I want to have FWG and need a rapid spinner so I was thinking starmie or gyrados with excadrill as a rapid spinner.

A decent FWG core would probably be something like CharX, CB Azu, Ferrothorn. Also gives you a dragon/fairy/steel core on the side.

You still lack a spinner but Excadrill looks like a good spinner to put alongside CharX.

 

[leafbarrett]

Most teams run one or two priority users, which is quite easy to get around if you have a trapper or a bit or residual damage, or in a punch, anything that resists its priority and can ohko. I will pull fucking calcs of + 2 defense gardevoir vs + however many free turns of set up, at least two, on the most common priority users if I have to. In my givin situation, passing quiver dances, it is very easy to keep up the sub against any single special attacker, and even if it breaks, that should be enough time to ko the threat that broke it.

Mega Gardevoir can handle the SpAttack/SpDefense buffing herself with Calm Mind.

Step 1: Set up Iron Def on a physical attacker, let's say Garchomp, alternating between Protect and Iron Def; you can usually get to +4 Defense before they get the hint
Step 2: Baton Pass to Gardevoir, preferably on the switch, or, failing that, on a physical attacker; if all else fails, Gardevoir can take a special hit fairly well
Step 3: Mega evolve, outspeed (it's pretty safe to assume that you'll outspeed at this point with +4 Speed, even with only 80 base on that turn) and drop a Sub, which, if you did step 1 right, will sponge a physical hit or status hit
Step 4: Spam Calm Mind until sub breaks, and set new sub; repeat until at +4 to +6; temporarily skip this step if a Special hard hitter comes out and you don't think the subs will take the hits
Step 5: Start melting faces


Worst case scenario, you pass to something else instead. There's not many pokemon who don't enjoy having +4 Defense and +4 Speed (maybe a Gyro user for the latter), so it's not like it's going to waste or anything.

 

[Celon]

Has anybody mentioned this one yet? Mega Gengar and Hydreigon. Mega Gengar has weaknesses to Ground, Ghost, Dark, and Psychic, all of which are resisted or completely ineffective against Hydreigon, whereas Mega Gengar can come in on Fairy, Fighting, and Bug moves aimed at Hydreigon. Ice and Dragon are the only weaknesses not resisted between the two, but something like Scizor can come in and resist those.

 

[Foo Fighter]

Hawlucha [Flying Gem/Sitrus Berry]
[Adamant][Undburden]
252 Attack / 252 Speed / 6 Hp

• Acrobatics
• High Jump Kick
• Swords Dance
• Baton Pass

Aegislash [Spooky Plate]
[Quiet][Stance Change]
108 HP / 148 Attack / 252 Sp. Atk

• Shadow Ball
• Shadow Sneak
• King's Shield
• Sacred Sword

Snorlax [Leftovers/Assault Vest]
[Impish][Thick Fat]
144 HP / 188 Def / 176 Sp. Def (0 Speed IV)

• Body Slam
• Crunch
• Rest/Pursuit
• Sleep Talk/Earthquake

Hawlucha uses his high speed stat to either sweep through himself with great STAB coverage in High Jump Kick and Acrobatics and access to Swords Dance. There are a number of things that he cannot defeat of course, but Baton Pass allows momentum to be maintained against common threats like Aegislash. Acrobatics is the item of choice as it activates Unburden more reliably. I have had some success with Sitrus berry on my cart Hawlucha since Flying gem isn't out yet, it increases his longevity enough to get off a Baton Pass and it is a precaution for High Jump Kick as it activates and gives 25% of it's health back and activates Unburden. Defensively its typing discourages opponents from using a ground move allowing for an easier pass to Aegislash and lures Ice, Fairy, Flying and Special Moves also increasing its pass-ability to the other two.

Mixed Aegislash is an incredible wall breaker and being passed a Swords Dance gives it back some of the power it trades for coverage. Shadow Ball is the spam move of choice and pairs nicely Shadow Sneak to pick off weakened foes and Sacred Sword for coverage. The Evs utilize its notable bulk while not detracting from its great mixed offense. His typing is quite useful for switch-ins and STAB since Ghost is probably the best Offensive type now.

Rounding out the main sweeping duo is Snorlax as a defensive and somewhat offensive pivot. I'm currently using the Rest Talk set since the mechanics are back to pre-gen V mechanics. It gives Snorlax reliable recovery and turns him into a Status Absorber Since both Hawlucha and Aegislash are prone to status effects. Crunch and Body Slam Provide pretty decent coverage all around due to the Steel Nerf and is only resisted by a few pokemon (Bisharp, Carbink and Lucario off the top of my head). I am considering the Assault vest version as its massive bulk is appealing, but the lack of recovery isn't. It also turns it into a good counter for Aegislash since it can trap with Pursuit.

 

[Colossus]

How about Mawile/Gyarados/Garchomp? Fire and Ground are covered, Electric and Rock are covered, and Dragon and Ice are covered. It's an all-physical core, yes, but with the right teammates it looks like it could work pretty well.

 

[Windgrace]

One core I kind of stumbled on is Aegislash and (I hate it but it's so very good) a Sub+Protect Gliscor. Gliscor soaks up Earthquakes and Fire Blasts targeted to Aegislash. I think a Vaporeon would round out this core pretty well (perhaps a specially defensive set) for to take care of Ice Beams and Scalds/Hydro Pumps/Ice Beams, although I'm personally not using one on my Showdown team.