Hell's Paradise
Introduction
So, I told myself that I would not make a new RMT until I either won a big tournament like the Smogon Tour or SPL or I quit the game. Well, the latter is happening. Some people may recognize this team as they’re reading this RMT as the team I used for Smogon Tour 13 and some of Smogon Tour 14. This has been my go-to team for DPP for quite some time now. I really liked how this team has turned out after the seemingly countless tweaks I’ve done to it through the aching teambuilding and playtesting process. I also think this is a fitting time to post this with the announcement of Pokemon X & Y, giving way to Generation 6. By October, DPP will be two generations old.
There used to be a trend in naming your RMTs after music albums. Well, I decided to kinda bring that back a little bit by naming this after one of my favorite albums by the duo of Wit & Dre Murray: Hell’s Paradise. It’s actually a mixtape, but it is so good that I’ve seen some people consider it an album and I do as well. Before you pass judgment on the sub-genre known as Christian Hip Hop, I implore you to take a listen to this masterpiece. For it being a Christian Hip Hop “mixtape”, Hell’s Paradise is pretty...dark. The reason why I'm naming it after this particular project is because of the concept of the album. The struggles and situations you go through in life essentially make up a "dream world" that Dre Murray calls Hell's Paradise (Hell's Paradise being life itself on Earth until Heaven). I tend to see competitive Pokemon in a similar fashion, that it's a dream world that can feel real but isn't. Anyway, you’ll be able to listen to some tracks right off of this RMT as you go along.
My last RMT, The Supe Nazi, had a terrible case of tl;dr. So I want to try and be a little more concise with this RMT, though I am probably going to fail miserably at that(I already know the Team Building process will be tl;dr). But, enough of the intro. Onto the Team Building process
There used to be a trend in naming your RMTs after music albums. Well, I decided to kinda bring that back a little bit by naming this after one of my favorite albums by the duo of Wit & Dre Murray: Hell’s Paradise. It’s actually a mixtape, but it is so good that I’ve seen some people consider it an album and I do as well. Before you pass judgment on the sub-genre known as Christian Hip Hop, I implore you to take a listen to this masterpiece. For it being a Christian Hip Hop “mixtape”, Hell’s Paradise is pretty...dark. The reason why I'm naming it after this particular project is because of the concept of the album. The struggles and situations you go through in life essentially make up a "dream world" that Dre Murray calls Hell's Paradise (Hell's Paradise being life itself on Earth until Heaven). I tend to see competitive Pokemon in a similar fashion, that it's a dream world that can feel real but isn't. Anyway, you’ll be able to listen to some tracks right off of this RMT as you go along.
My last RMT, The Supe Nazi, had a terrible case of tl;dr. So I want to try and be a little more concise with this RMT, though I am probably going to fail miserably at that(I already know the Team Building process will be tl;dr). But, enough of the intro. Onto the Team Building process
GyaraTar: It all started when I ran into ENZ0 while on the PO 4th gen ladder and he destroyed me with Shuca Berry Ice Punch DDTar. I was then inspired to build a team around it. I started out with an HO team in DPP that I later put on the shelf, but I really liked how Gyarados and Tyranitar could set up on each others switch-ins, so I scrapped the HO team and started with these two.
StarGross
Flygon + Scizor U-Turn combo. This was the first version of the team. After the long tweaking process I went through with my last team, I was honestly feeling pretty lazy and I just ended up slapping standard combos together. And, boy, did I pay for it. I think I lost twice as many matches as I won with this version since everybody knows what to do against standard stuff. It was time to start getting creative.
I wanted to try out lead Yanmega so I could put immediate pressure on nearly any team and force them to reveal team members so I could plan ahead. Naturally, Heatran is Yanmega’s best partner. I tend to nickname 'mons and 'mon combinations in this game, so I later deemed the lead combo “Megatron”. I also replaced Scizor with Scarf Magnezone. I was hoping to catch two of Tyranitar’s biggest stops to sweeping, Scizor and Skarmory, by luring them with Flygon and U-Turning to trap them. I deemed this combo the “No Fly Zone”.
The team was still losing a lot. I finally stopped and went back to the drawing board. I needed a much more effective, and unexpected, lead combination. I was browsing through the C&C archives one day when I came across Attacking Lead Raikou. I read through it to get a good feel of the strategy behind it and saw that Bronzong was the recommended partner so I got both of them on the squad. The Bronzong set I used though was custom, which I’ll explain much later. Scarf Magnezone wasn’t working out since it can’t even outspeed LO Starmie, making it pointless IMO. I switched to it’s pre-evo, Magneton, and kept it scarfed to patch up that hole. I then changed Flygon to Aerodactyl and used yet another custom set to bait and KO Scizor, which I will go into more detail later.
I started testing and the team was doing pretty good until one match where I got 6-0’d. Then, the team started winning….a lot. I was quickly rising up the ladder and nearly hit leaderboard, but I realized I wanted to use this for ST13 and I didn’t want it leaking out, so I stopped laddering, though I would have easily hit the leaderboard at the bare minimum.
I started testing and the team was doing pretty good until one match where I got 6-0’d. Then, the team started winning….a lot. I was quickly rising up the ladder and nearly hit leaderboard, but I realized I wanted to use this for ST13 and I didn’t want it leaking out, so I stopped laddering, though I would have easily hit the leaderboard at the bare minimum.
During the tour, I saw that Aero wasn’t doing the job that I gave it as well as I hoped, so Flygon was back on the squad, though this time I used MixGon but I stuck with Expert Belt to bluff the Scarf. I also had a stint with Choice Band Gyarados
Later on, Magneton started to become less useful and I actually hated locking into any attack with it and giving up momentum, even if it meant killing Skarm or Scizor. Magneton was also dead weight if the opponent didn’t have a Steel type not named Heatran, which is what I started running into. I decided to give Jolteon a try, but wanted to try out Wish Jolteon so Gyara could last longer against stall. CB Gyara wasn’t doing so well either, so I switched back to DD + Taunt Gyara. I also decided to drop Expert Belt on Flygon for Life Orb since it wasn't scoring enough OHKO's or 2HKO's, which just wasn't worth bluffing a Scarf set over.
I did well in ST13, but then I started auto-losing to any stall team that had Skarm on it because Bronzong was easy setup fodder for stall, despite it being excellent against offense. Raikou was also essentially useless against a good stall team. I thought for a while on who to replace them with. I had always wanted to try lead Gallade and a friend of mine was having success with it at the time, so I replaced Raikou with it. Bronzong was extremely hard to replace because I wanted a ‘mon that could do what Bronzong did and deal with stall better. I started taking a look at Forretress and brought it on the squad after figuring out what type of moveset I wanted for it.
And there you have it.
Team Members
Art by manyuladic
Gallade (M) @ Life Orb **Spazz Out**
Steadfast | Jolly Nature | EV’s: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD / 240 Spe
Shadow Sneak | Ice Punch | Zen Headbutt | Close Combat
Now I wanna give her hell and her friends don't have a clue
That instead of goin' ape, I'm about to bring the zoo
And now that I've arrived, they're like "What is this about?"
They saw my face and it left no doubt. I was 'bout to Spazz Out
Gallade is a very nasty lead to face and it's clear why I named it after the track "Spazz Out". I wanted something that can perform well against most leads and still have midgame significance. This spot used to be accompanied by Raikou who did all of these things, but did not fare well against stall at all. Gallade doesn’t match up quite as well against offensive teams, but it is much better against stall because it hits a lot harder and it still beats most of the common leads 1-on-1. Shadow Sneak 2HKO’s standard and Colbur Azelf leads, Gengar, and offensive Starmie. Ice Punch OHKO’s Gliscor and Dragonite as well as catching an unsuspecting Flygon or Zapdos switching in. Zen Headbutt is specifically for those stray Machamp leads, but it is good STAB in general since Psychic gets decent neutral coverage, especially on something like Gallade(Ttar wouldn’t dare switch in). Close Combat is Gallade’s best attack and hits extremely hard coming off of 349 Attack, STAB, and Life Orb. All Heatran leads are destroyed by it. Breloom is also manhandled if Gallade isn't asleep.
The EV’s are stolen from BKC. 252 Attack is so Gallade hits as hard as possible. 8 HP is a Life Orb number. 240 Speed coupled with a Jolly nature lets Gallade hit 281 Speed, outrunning anything with 280 Speed or less, such as Adamant Lucario. The rest goes into Sp.Def to bolster an already good stat. I've experimented with the standard 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe spread as well to hit 284 Speed, outrunning all base 80's that don't run max Speed as well as other Pokemon that aim to beat the 280 Speed benchmark, but I want some more opinions as to which one is actually better.
The EV’s are stolen from BKC. 252 Attack is so Gallade hits as hard as possible. 8 HP is a Life Orb number. 240 Speed coupled with a Jolly nature lets Gallade hit 281 Speed, outrunning anything with 280 Speed or less, such as Adamant Lucario. The rest goes into Sp.Def to bolster an already good stat. I've experimented with the standard 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe spread as well to hit 284 Speed, outrunning all base 80's that don't run max Speed as well as other Pokemon that aim to beat the 280 Speed benchmark, but I want some more opinions as to which one is actually better.
Art by Bummer
Forretress (F) @ Shed Shell **Brand New**
Sturdy | Careful Nature | EV’s: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp. Def
Stealth Rock | Rapid Spin | Payback | Explosion
So maybe I should try to
Not a lot of people to say bye to
Then again, they don't know I exist
No goodbye kiss
Maybe they should die too
Look at the lyrics and you'll see why I named Forry after "Brand New". This spot was occupied by Bronzong for a long time. The set I was running was a Trick variant with Toxic Orb. While Bronzong frustrated offensive teams, it became setup fodder for stall teams to get hazards down. With a little inspiration from TNT's Girl In The Fire RMT, I then turned to Forretress since it was the closest thing to Bronzong that I could get and also gave me a spinner. This is definitely the weirdest Forretress set I’ve ever used, but I wanted to customize Forry’s set to fit the needs for this team and it had the support movepool to do it. Shed Shell is used to keep Magnezone from trapping Forry before she can do her job. Stealth Rock is obvious since it’s the best move in the game, doing up to 200% damage to pokes over the course of a game. Rapid Spin is to give me a much better chance against stall and any other hazard abusing teams in general(especially those that use Skarm). Payback is to hit incoming Ghost-types looking to spinblock. Explosion is used so as not to become fodder against offensive teams looking to boost their sweepers for free and it gives me a free switch to get something in safely.
The EV’s are standard fare. 252 HP and 252 SpD EV’s with a Careful nature allow Forretress to tank as many special attacks as possible, such as Draco Meteor from Mixed Dragonite. The last point goes into Defense.
The EV’s are standard fare. 252 HP and 252 SpD EV’s with a Careful nature allow Forretress to tank as many special attacks as possible, such as Draco Meteor from Mixed Dragonite. The last point goes into Defense.
Art by Sorocabano
Gyarados (F) @ Leftovers **Horrors**
Intimidate | Adamant Nature | EV’s: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
Dragon Dance | Taunt | Waterfall | Bounce
Ain't nothin' worse than pins that won't fall
Pins that won't stick. Skin is too thick.
Their bond together is strong; they stand tall.
But some of 'em are weak and He can't save 'em all
"Horrors", which is off the Deluxe Edition of this album, seems like a fitting track for Gyarados. I don’t think people realize how good DD + Taunt Gyarados really is in DPP OU. It absolutely demolishes any unprepared team, especially ones with FWG cores and tears stall apart once Rotom-A is gone. Gyarados is the biggest reason teams almost have to run Rotom-A. Anyway, Gyarados is the first of a combination of sweepers and sets up on nearly everything that would counter Tyranitar, such as Scizor, Lucario, Infernape, Hippowdon and Breloom.
Gyarados and I have gone through a lot. For a long time I struggled with exactly what moveset and EV spread I should be running. I’ve used Stone Edge with an EV spread of 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe and a Jolly nature, eventually using Bounce over Stone Edge. I then tried out other things like holding Wacan Berry, using the standard Bulky Gyara set, even trying out Choice Band Gyara. I was never quite comfortable with any of those options because they either didn’t hit hard enough or didn’t last long enough. I then ran across an EV spread that george182 used for his Gyarados in his Simply the Best RMT. I gave it a shot and haven’t looked back since. I was surprised with how much of a difference in power there was between Jolly and Adamant. Pretty standard fare: a Bulky Gyara moveset with an EV spread close to LO Gyara’s. This spread allows Gyarados to OHKO offensive Starmie and Shaymin with Bounce after one boost. Bounce also works well in conjunction with Leftovers. Waterfall hits as hard as possible. The rest of the set allows Gyara to sweep while preventing it from getting pHazed or just disrupting the opponent in general.
Gyarados and I have gone through a lot. For a long time I struggled with exactly what moveset and EV spread I should be running. I’ve used Stone Edge with an EV spread of 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe and a Jolly nature, eventually using Bounce over Stone Edge. I then tried out other things like holding Wacan Berry, using the standard Bulky Gyara set, even trying out Choice Band Gyara. I was never quite comfortable with any of those options because they either didn’t hit hard enough or didn’t last long enough. I then ran across an EV spread that george182 used for his Gyarados in his Simply the Best RMT. I gave it a shot and haven’t looked back since. I was surprised with how much of a difference in power there was between Jolly and Adamant. Pretty standard fare: a Bulky Gyara moveset with an EV spread close to LO Gyara’s. This spread allows Gyarados to OHKO offensive Starmie and Shaymin with Bounce after one boost. Bounce also works well in conjunction with Leftovers. Waterfall hits as hard as possible. The rest of the set allows Gyara to sweep while preventing it from getting pHazed or just disrupting the opponent in general.
Art by All0412
Tyranitar (M) @ Shuca Berry **Hell's Paradise**
Sand Stream | Jolly Nature | EV’s: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Dragon Dance | Crunch | Ice Punch | Earthquake
I know you see 'em baby. Pushin' them fancy cars!
You see them flashin' lights. You wanna be a star!
See, you may think they're right, but they will pay the price
Yeah, they'll pay the price
See, this ain't real life 'cuz you're in Hell's Paradise
The main reason I built this team (though Gyarados comes in a very close second) and the second part of my sweeping combination. Clearly Ttar had to be named off the track "Hell's Paradise". Anyone who has read The Smog for a long time knows about this set. Heatran is still the most used Pokemon in DPP, so Gyarados and Tyranitar take full advantage of that by setting up on most sets. This particular Dragon Dance variant strays from the standard and, instead of countering Scizor with Fire Punch + Babiri Berry, it specializes in dealing with Scarf Flygon via Ice Punch + Shuca Berry since Scarf Flygon is the main check to Tyranitar. It can also beat Gliscor as a bonus. Even though Gliscor has Sand Veil, Shuca Berry allows Tyranitar to get two shots at KO’ing it after a boost. Other things it can take out in the right conditions are Dragonite, Lucario without Bullet Punch, Infernape without Mach Punch and SubSeed Breloom (+1 Ice Punch does around 90% to it). Most Heatran are, again, setup bait. If Flygon, Skarmory, and Scizor are gone, +1 Tyranitar usually sweeps.
As I stated earlier, Tyranitar usually gets opportunities to set up on Gyarados’ counters. Things such as Zapdos, Jolteon, and Rotom-A that don’t carry Trick or Will-o-Wisp. Speaking of Will-o-Wisp, I thought about using Lum Berry so Ttar can walk in on Rotom-A easier, but Shuca Berry has saved me so many times I just end up sticking with it. The reason I chose the coverage that I did is because Stone Edge really, really sucks. It really does. If it even had 85% accuracy I would consider it since it’s Tyranitar’s most powerful move and Skarmory is no longer a full stop. But, I’d rather just have 100% accurate moves to hit everything and Ice/Ground coverage is ridiculously good in DPP OU IMO, dismantling nearly every FWG core in the tier and taking out threats such as Dragonite, Flygon, Gliscor, and Zapdos at the same time who are normally paired with said FWG cores. Oh, and I can’t stand the fact that if I used the set posted on the Smog, I would be walled by Lucario, who is only the strongest sweeper in 4th gen OU. EV’s and nature are standard, taking advantage of the Sp.Def boost in the sand while outspeeding base 115’s like Starmie and below after a boost.
As I stated earlier, Tyranitar usually gets opportunities to set up on Gyarados’ counters. Things such as Zapdos, Jolteon, and Rotom-A that don’t carry Trick or Will-o-Wisp. Speaking of Will-o-Wisp, I thought about using Lum Berry so Ttar can walk in on Rotom-A easier, but Shuca Berry has saved me so many times I just end up sticking with it. The reason I chose the coverage that I did is because Stone Edge really, really sucks. It really does. If it even had 85% accuracy I would consider it since it’s Tyranitar’s most powerful move and Skarmory is no longer a full stop. But, I’d rather just have 100% accurate moves to hit everything and Ice/Ground coverage is ridiculously good in DPP OU IMO, dismantling nearly every FWG core in the tier and taking out threats such as Dragonite, Flygon, Gliscor, and Zapdos at the same time who are normally paired with said FWG cores. Oh, and I can’t stand the fact that if I used the set posted on the Smog, I would be walled by Lucario, who is only the strongest sweeper in 4th gen OU. EV’s and nature are standard, taking advantage of the Sp.Def boost in the sand while outspeeding base 115’s like Starmie and below after a boost.
Art by All0412
Jolteon (M) @ Leftovers **Circulate**
Volt Absorb | Timid Nature | EV’s: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Wish | Protect | Hidden Power Grass | Thunderbolt
They say this Earth, but it feel like Hell
Man, I ain't ate in a week, homie, can't you tell
Could really use some clean water, but we got no well
They said this AIDS might get me, but I'm like "oh well"
I named Jolteon after "Circulate" for obvious reasons. This spot used to be occupied by Scarf Magneton. The earlier versions of the team did very well against nearly all forms of offense. Stall was a winnable matchup, but this team struggled a bit against a well played stall team. I also didn’t like how Magneton was essentially useless in certain matchups. I wanted something that could function similar to Magneton and I also wanted a base 130 Speed poke to replace Aerodactyl: in comes Jolteon. But, what set? I really didn’t like any of the standard sets especially since Tyranitar and Sp.Def Heatran are popular in the metagame, but Yawn Jolteon intrigued me. Then I thought “why not use Wish instead of Yawn?”. Wish came about because I didn’t like how Gyarados essentially had 4 times to switch in before dying and when I needed Gyara down the stretch, it was already dead. I always thought GyaraJolt was a noob combo, that it was too predictable after the opponent sees it, but it does work when used properly.
The consensus is that Jolteon is too frail to be a Wish Passer, but it has worked wonders on this team. Jolteon forces a lot of switches so it gets plenty of opportunities to Wish. Protect is beautiful on Jolteon. The most common answers to Jolteon are Tyranitar, Flygon, and Specially Defensive Heatran. The former two tend to be Choiced. In this manner, Jolteon functions similar to the Yawn set with Protect to scout for the move Tyranitar and Flygon lock into as well as giving Jolteon a way to heal itself. I've never really needed a Scarfed revenge killer thanks to Jolteon's blistering Speed and ability to shut most other Scarfers down. I've never liked Choice 'mons in general because you can potentially give up momentum, so I'd rather not use one. Thunderbolt is STAB and deals with the bulky Waters that GyaraTar cannot deal with, such as Suicune and Vaporeon. Hidden Power Grass is to take out the annoying Swampert who I was seeing more of just before I stopped playing. I am considering Hidden Power Ice, but I haven’t done so since I already have Ice coverage on Gallade and Tyranitar. EV’s are standard and speak for themselves, outrunning everything in OU that has less than 394 Speed.
The consensus is that Jolteon is too frail to be a Wish Passer, but it has worked wonders on this team. Jolteon forces a lot of switches so it gets plenty of opportunities to Wish. Protect is beautiful on Jolteon. The most common answers to Jolteon are Tyranitar, Flygon, and Specially Defensive Heatran. The former two tend to be Choiced. In this manner, Jolteon functions similar to the Yawn set with Protect to scout for the move Tyranitar and Flygon lock into as well as giving Jolteon a way to heal itself. I've never really needed a Scarfed revenge killer thanks to Jolteon's blistering Speed and ability to shut most other Scarfers down. I've never liked Choice 'mons in general because you can potentially give up momentum, so I'd rather not use one. Thunderbolt is STAB and deals with the bulky Waters that GyaraTar cannot deal with, such as Suicune and Vaporeon. Hidden Power Grass is to take out the annoying Swampert who I was seeing more of just before I stopped playing. I am considering Hidden Power Ice, but I haven’t done so since I already have Ice coverage on Gallade and Tyranitar. EV’s are standard and speak for themselves, outrunning everything in OU that has less than 394 Speed.
Art by Mark Avila
Flygon (F) @ Life Orb **Too Classy**
Levitate | Rash Nature | EV’s: 16 Atk / 252 SpA / 240 Spe
Draco Meteor | Earthquake | Fire Blast | Roost
The Devil don't wear Prada; no she wear nada
Tryna' put me to the flames and that ain't cool
And last, but certainly not least, we have Mixed Flygon. The only reason I named Flygon after "Too Classy", which is also off the Deluxe Edition, is because....idk :/ . The reason for this choice is that Flygon is virtually immune to hazards, giving Flygon some longevity. It also gives me a second Electric immunity to relieve some of the burden off Tyranitar. I’ve tried some earlier sets: Scarf Flygon and Mixed Flygon with Expert Belt. I finally decided to drop the Expert Belt and stop bluffing the Scarf set for a Life Orb since Flygon was missing out on some OHKOs/2HKOs. I also found Scarf Flygon to be pretty terrible in 4th gen. I hate to diss it, but everyone knows what it does and it isn’t that scary of an offensive threat as long as you’re a good teambuilder. Jolly Outrage can’t even OHKO Infernape after SR, so there you have it. MixGon, on the other hand, is a monster against stall. Since stall can’t beat Flygon through it’s main source of damage(hazards), it has to resort to revenge killing it. Draco Meteor is the big draw of the set. Flygon tends to lure in physical tanks like Hippowdon, Gliscor and Swampert, so Draco Meteor puts a huge dent in those. Earthquake is general STAB and Fire Blast keeps all Spikers at bay. Roost allows me to last much longer against stall and mitigates Life Orb recoil. It guarantees that you will have to actually hit Flygon to KO it.
The EV’s are stolen from WillSO. He used this spread in his So Long, Lonesome RMT. 240 Speed EV’s allow Flygon to hit 296 Speed, beating Offensive Suicune by one point in order to Earthquake it before it can KO with Ice Beam. Situational, but has been useful at times. 252 SpA EV’s are standard for MixGon and the rest go into Attack.
The EV’s are stolen from WillSO. He used this spread in his So Long, Lonesome RMT. 240 Speed EV’s allow Flygon to hit 296 Speed, beating Offensive Suicune by one point in order to Earthquake it before it can KO with Ice Beam. Situational, but has been useful at times. 252 SpA EV’s are standard for MixGon and the rest go into Attack.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed reading this. Even though I’ve essentially stopped playing, I still encourage you to rate this team and even take it for a spin. I will still be around to see what advice I get for this team and I will probably even playtest said suggestions. Shoutouts to everyone from the defunct FalChat who have been there since the beginning: BKC, penguinx, trollmonchan, Nubagator, Faladran and the others that I either forgot to mention or are long gone and quit this game (I guess Thundurrr gets an honorable mention). If I forgot to add you then let me know. Anyway, if you like this team, feel free to leave a Luvdisc at the top right corner of the OP(sorry, it's a YouTube habit lol). I’ve gotta say, though, it’s really sad that the Past Gen Team forum is now dead and gone, but so it goes when a new generation comes along. It was inevitable. This team was a blast to use. Now, RMT!
Gallade (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Steadfast
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef / 240 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Shadow Sneak
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Close Combat
Forretress (F) @ Shed Shell
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Payback
- Explosion
Gyarados (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Taunt
- Waterfall
- Bounce
Tyranitar (M) @ Shuca Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Punch
- Crunch
- Earthquake
Jolteon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Thunderbolt
Flygon (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 16 Atk / 252 SAtk / 240 Spd
Mild Nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
Trait: Steadfast
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef / 240 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Shadow Sneak
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Close Combat
Forretress (F) @ Shed Shell
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Payback
- Explosion
Gyarados (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Taunt
- Waterfall
- Bounce
Tyranitar (M) @ Shuca Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Punch
- Crunch
- Earthquake
Jolteon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Thunderbolt
Flygon (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 16 Atk / 252 SAtk / 240 Spd
Mild Nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
Art by Sorocabano
Raikou @ Lum Berry | Pressure
EV’s: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe | Rash Nature
Extrasensory | Aura Sphere | Thunderbolt | Extremespeed
I ran this as my lead for a long time. Even though Crown Raikou is forced to use a Rash nature, losing the speed tie against Starmie, it does so well against most leads that offensive teams tend to use anyway. Scarfed Raikou was pretty popular among certain players, so Lum Berry allows you to bluff the Scarf set somewhat and gives you status protection in a pinch. Extrasensory is to get the solid 2HKO on Machamp and Roserade leads and combined with Lum Berry, allows Raikou to beat said leads. It also hits Infernape and Breloom hard. I opted for Aura Sphere over HP Ice since the only thing I would really hit with it is Gliscor and Dragonite, but Tyranitar and Bronzong took care of them and Flygon would just U-Turn out before I could hit it anyway. Aura Sphere hits Tyranitar and Heatran harder, two common switch-ins to Raikou. Thunderbolt is standard STAB and Extremespeed is to pick off (very) weakened opponents/Sash leads. Raikou also has surprising special bulk, even with the Rash nature. As an example, Heatran cannot OHKO it without Life Orb, max Special Attack, and Earth Power. Any lead with a less powerful attack [Starmie LO Hydro Pump] misses the OHKO. EV spread and nature speak for themselves.
Art by JJao
Bronzong @ Toxic Orb | Levitate
EV’s: 252 HP / 152 Atk / 8 Def / 96 SpD | Relaxed Nature
Stealth Rock | Trick | Hidden Power Ice | Payback
Trick Orb Bronzong! This is the coolest Bronzong I have ever used. In the earliest versions of the team, I was losing a lot to Starmie, Rotom-A and offensive Flying types and Levitators like Dragonite, Gengar, Zapdos and Flygon. Bulky Waters were also annoying. I decided I needed a utility ‘mon that could set up SR and deal with most of these types: a strong pivot to use against offensive teams. Enter Bronzong. Steel isn’t affected by Poison so Toxic Orb will not activate…until you Trick it to something else. I stole the idea from Umbreon Dan who posted a Toxic Orb Jirachi set in the Creative Movesets thread back when Stark Mountain existed. This Bronzong is designed to deal with all the aforementioned threats; OHKO’ing/2HKO’ing them either through Toxic Orb, it’s Dark/Ice coverage or both. Toxic Orb will frustrate Natural Cure pokes like Starmie as well as ResTalkers like Suicune and Rotom-A since they will never be able to permanently rid themselves of Toxic status. This is also the reason why I chose not to just run Toxic. Bronzong was a magnet for Heatran as well which gave Gyarados and Tyranitar lots of opportunities to come in and set up. It’s also a great Ground type switch in and can fool Dragonite into a false sense of security if it tries to set up. I used to use the Tank Bronzong EV spread, but eventually settled on the spread used by Dual Screens Bronzong and I haven’t had a reason to change it.
Art by Mark Avila
Aerodactyl @ Babiri Berry | Pressure
EV’s: 244 Atk / 64 SpA / 200 Spe | Hasty Nature
Earthquake | Stone Edge | Fire Blast | Roost
BaitDactyl! This is also the coolest set I’ve ever used for Aerodactyl. I used this as a last ditch effort to lure Scizor in for the OHKO, although it can do the same for Jirachi and Lucario packing Bullet Punch. It is essentially Life Orb Aerodactyl, but with Fire Blast over Taunt and Babiri Berry over Life Orb.
The EV’s are custom. 64 SpA with a Hasty nature allow Aerodactyl to OHKO Choice Band Scizor with Fire Blast the second time it switches in on SR. 200 Speed EV’s let Aerodactyl hit 380 Speed, far outpacing base 120’s like Dugtrio. The rest are put into Attack to hit as hard as possible, especially since Life Orb is missing.
The EV’s are custom. 64 SpA with a Hasty nature allow Aerodactyl to OHKO Choice Band Scizor with Fire Blast the second time it switches in on SR. 200 Speed EV’s let Aerodactyl hit 380 Speed, far outpacing base 120’s like Dugtrio. The rest are put into Attack to hit as hard as possible, especially since Life Orb is missing.
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