Greninja & Charizard vs. The World

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

'Sup. Thought I'd come back to Smogon for a change and reveal the team that I'm currently working on. It focuses on the duo of Greninja and Charizard, hence the name, and I plan to put it on cartridge as soon as Pokebank comes out. But first, I've done some testing on Showdown: the team had its wins and losses, but most noteably I've been having trouble with MegaKan... 'cause Parental Bond's a bitch.

Anyway, I wanna show-case some battles I've won; to show that, yes this team DOES work as a whole. I know that a single win doesn't prove anything, so I've gathered three logs together instead

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pokebankoubeta-66004927
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pokebankoubeta-66272823
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pokebankoubeta-66276192

So anyway, the team:

Ronintoadin

Greninja@Focus Sash
Timid: 4HP, 252Sp.Atk, 252Spe
Protean

Surf
Dark Pulse
Hidden Power (Fire)
Spikes

It sucks that Greninja doesn't know Calm Mind; personally it looks like the kind of mon that would be perfect for it. As I studied its movepool, I was seriously considering ditching it and looking for Pokemon that would support Charizard instead, but then I noticed Spikes. 'Finally,' I thought to myself, 'This thing has a job. From now on, I'll just slap on a Focus Sash and use it as my lead.'

So there you have it, a generic Spiker. Dark Pulse is there in case Espeon and Xatu get any ideas, and Surf is Greninja's other original STAB, chosen because more accurate than Hydro Pump. HP Fire handles Galvantula leads, and is also useful against Ferrothorn once he's done Spiking.

Sword & Shield

Aegislash@Leftovers
Adamant: 252HP, 252Atk, 4SpD
Stance Change

Shadow Sneak
Sacred Sword
King's Shield
Swords Dance

It was either gonna be this or Gengar, though I didn't want to use the latter's MEvo because Charizard needs it to even be remotely viable; whereas Gengar's normally MORE than. Also, I've seen speculation that Mega Gengar was gonna be banned anyway, which I can see why but I haven't had much trouble with it from my experience. But enough about Gengar, let's talk about Aegislash, shall we?

Swords Dance makes him stronger while Shadow Sneak serves as priority and Sacred Sword provides perfect coverage. I usually end up going for the Sacred Sword first regardless of whatever non-Ghost I'm facing, in case Shadow Sneak won't do enough damage, and THEN follow with the Shadow Sneak. It saves me the trouble of worrying about paying the price for missing the kill, as I learnt from the first log. King's Shield gets me prepared for a Sacred Sword, as the extra bulk of the Shield Forme lets me survive to actually pull it off. Aegis could use a higher HP base, though...

Scorpio

Gliscor@Toxic Orb
Impish: 244HP, 248Def, 16Spe
Poison Heal

Earthquake
U-Turn
Taunt
Roost

Greninja, Gliscor and Aegislash form a perfect core on their own in terms of typing. On top of that, Gliscor is a good tank, though I'm thinking of cutting down on the Defense and investing more on Speed. This should allow me to do a little quick-stalling. At the very worst, it'll allow me to outspeed some faster mons, though I haven't decided what I wanna try to outspeed yet.

ANYWAY, this set is pretty standard: EQ for STAB, U-Turn to get the hell out of there in case I come across a bulky Water and Roost to recover HPs on top of Poison Heal. I have Taunt in this moveset as well, but I'm finding that I'm not using it. Probably 'cause it's not fast enough :/

Death Wing

Charizard@Charizardite X
Jolly: 248HP, 84Atk, 176Spe
Blaze --> Tough Claws

Flare Blitz
Dragon Tail
Swords Dance
Roost

Originally, I was gonna make this thing into a basic Swords Dancer, because phazers eat a +2 Dragon Tail and can't actually do anything. Now though, after seeing so many Scolipede running around the Pokebank tier, Charizard's starting to become a phazer. Luckily, I've already got a relatively bulky spread which I borrowed from a bulky Will-o-Wisp spread on the analysis, but now all of a sudden I'm considering replacing Swords Dance with another attack; probably EQ or something. Haven't committed to it though.

Anyway, Dragon Tail and Swords Dance are obvious, and I've already explained them. Flare Blitz is the main STAB that I use once I get a boost or two... or three if I get a chance, which is rare at best. Last on the set is Roost, which is mandatory on any bulky set because recovery.

Storm Bringer

Thundurus@Life Orb
Timid: 4HP, 252Sp.Atk, 252Spe
Prankster

Thunder Bolt
Focus Blast
Hidden Power (Ice)
Nasty Plot

Since it's unbanned for the course of Pokebank testing, I'd thought I'd test Thundurus out as a possible revenge killer, and it's proving to be a reliable one. At the moment, I'm running a Nasty Plot variant, which ultimately won me over because I like to clean with him while he's out, and the freedom of moves definitely helps with that, unlike any of the Choice Sets.

Thunder Bolt is the STAB of choice, mainly because it doesn't get any decent Flying moves. HP Ice covers against most of Electric's weaknesses, while Focus Blast helps against Ferrothorn and whatever else needs killing straight away. I hate having to rely on it though because it's real name is Focus Miss, but I wasn't sure what other options I had at the time.

My Lil' Pony

Keldeo@Assault Vest
Timid: 4HP, 252Sp.Atk, 252Spe
Justified

Hydro Pump
Secret Sword
Hidden Power (Ghost)
Icy Wind

Finally, there's Keldeo. I had trouble fitting a Fighting Pokemon into my team, which I always use because fuck Blissey. Problem was, I wasn't sure if Conkeldurr was gonna be strong enough for this generation, and the other types of the other Fighters were conflicting with my team. I've looked extensively through the old Black & White Database until I found out that Keldeo had a so-called "All Out Attacker" set, before I thought to myself 'Alright, let's see how this thing does with an Assault Vest.'

Now it's my primary go-to guy for switching into special attackers that think they're boss. Hydro Pump is its strongest attack all-round, while Secret Sword is practically a Fighting-type Psyshock. HP Ghost rounds up coverage, while Icy Wind slows the enemy down. Though I might replace those last two things into a couple more powerful attacks. Though I've still got some testing to do.

There you have it: my team. It has its problems, most notably MegaKan 'cause I haven't figured out how to answer for it yet, but it definitely has potential; there's no doubt about it.

Rate, comment, suggest replacements for moves and/or Pokemon if ya want(not for Greninja or Charizard though, cause they're staying for the long run for this team), most importantly, keep all criticism constructive.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Srn]

First off, I wanna say your team looks pretty damn cool. I like how it flows, but your team lacks solid speed. To fix this, you could change your keldeo from AV--> scarf so that you have a revenge killer and all. Thundurus imo doesn't count that much because its not fast on its own.

Next, why dragon tail on charizard x? It makes much more sense to me to go fire punch/dragon claw when you're running roost.

As for gliscor, you're right. Speed makes it a lot more effective, its already quite bulky. You should just go with the standard 244hp/40def/224spe spread, it should work well.

And before I melt my keyboard, let's move on to fixing that stupid aegislash. SD+KS kills the momentum this team brings, and it has no real staying power or power itself. A +2 shadow sneak does not to much to remotely bulky mons. When a rotom-w switches in while you sd/ks, you already are forced to switch out and possible give up more momentum thanks to volt switch, or stay in and get burned, crippling your "sweeper." In short, I want you to never use SD+KS again. Its ineffective at what it does and brings down the whole team to cover its flaws.

Now, what aegislash is actually GOOD at is being an offensive pivot. Basically, you come in on a resisted hit, like a scizor's bullet punch, you punish the switch in heavily with shadow ball, and if you think you can ko, go for shadow sneak. Its MUCH more effective than swords dancing, doing 50% tops to a lando-t, then dying to an earthquake. Here's the set (nickname included <3) :
>SD+KS (Aegislash) @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- Iron Head
What this set does is it forces switches and hits traditional counters hard. Shadow ball is the crux of this set, punishing all the gliscors coming in to take a pathetic shadow sneak. Sacred Sword is just there for some coverage, and Iron head gives you a way to kill fairies as well, which trouble your team as it stands. The basic idea is this:
Imagine gliscor coming in, expecting to tank a physical hit:
252+ SpA Spooky Plate Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 244 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 243-286 (69 - 81.2%)
If you get lucky enough, then you can finish it off with a shadow sneak too.
252 Atk Spooky Plate Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 244 HP / 40+ Def Gliscor: 64-76 (18.1 - 21.5%)
(you should actually switch out because toxic orb heals it too much to KO, but you get the idea)
You get MUCH closer to killing gliscor than you ever would have with the standard SD+KS, no?
This set would allow you to lure bulky grounds which could potentially give your charizard x trouble and smack them hard to the point where any of your other team members could kill them off.
Your offensive core of greninja and char-x is really cool, best of luck with this team!(srry for long rate)

 

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Thanks. It's a bit late where I am at the moment, but first thing tomorrow, I'll try all those suggestions out.