There comes a time when my teams become as good as I can personally get them. My current team built around Mega Gyardos has gotten to that point and here I am asking for some help of which I might have forgotten about. My team is somewhat bulky offense with offense and momentum staying high.
Onto the team thinking process:
I wanted to base it around Mega Gyarados and a fast volt switcher, of which I chose Raikou (Assault vest) and a secondary win condition being Swords Dance Talonflame. In a way, I feel like I can't get rid of any of my pokemon for anything better, but at the same time, I know that it can get better.
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 Def / 248 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
This Gyarados is Jolly nature simply to beat anything above 145+ after a dragon dance, substitute to beat the pokémon which try to cause status or leech seed such as Will-o-Wispers, the final two moves are it's two STABS. I was almost tempted to go with Aqua Tail over Waterfall for a little bit of extra damage, but I generally get unlucky with moves which aren't 100% accuracy, so I would rather the guaranteed hit.
The rest goes into defense because that's the weakest defense and 8 EV's aren't really going to do too much so I didn't think it'd be a huge deal where they went.
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Healing Wish
Latias is my Defogger of choice because it has access to Healing Wish, which has came in handy many times to heal Gyara or anyone else that needs it, and it takes a lot of pressure off me knowing that I can just get anything back to full health and healthy at any given moment. Draco and Psyshock because STAB and they hit hard while getting decent coverage (Hi, anything that is steel).
Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 16 SpD / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
Raikou is generally my starting Pokémon, mainly because it has access to Volt Switch and can move to HP Ice if necessary when Ground types come in on it. I also use it as a lead because many people start with Tyranitar and Landorus-T which are often scarfs, and because Raikou has pressure, I can check before any moves have been used whether or not they have the scarf attached. If they do, I can go out to an appropriate check, without them knowing that I know they're scarf all while maintaining momentum and the advantage.
Moveset is the typical AV set, with Shadow Ball over Extrasensory as I lack ghost coverage anywhere else.
240 Speed EV's to outspeed max speed Serperior by 1. I used to have 228 or something to outspeed the genies but then a Serperior came and almost Swept me, so I now outrun that on this set. The rest go into SpDef to just get that extra special bulk as there is no dedicated Special wall.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Endure
I used to run a Defensive Lando-T in this spot, but I felt that I was under way too much pressure from Bisharp if I hadn't Mega'd Gyarados, plus this particular Garchomp puts pressure on two of my most hated pokemon, Mega Metagross and Mega Lopunny with endure and EQ. I'll be honest, I stole the set from the Creative/Underrated Sets thread, but hey, it's not illegal. EQ is the obvious STAB, and because the team lacks a rock user, I stuck that on him with Toxic to help wear down the more bulky pokemon that I struggle with. Endure also helps wear the toxic life down while giving another 28% damage to all the contact making pokemon. It can also be used as a pseudo protect to see which move the opponent uses. Also, because I have Healing wish on Latias, I can always have a second chance if I mess up somewhere.
Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 88 HP / 244 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
Typical Swords Dance Talonflame but with a little extra speed. I remember there was a reason why I wanted it to reach 365 speed, but I can't particularly remember why now! Maybe it was a certain threat at +1 or something, but the use for this pokemon is to have a good priority while giving also being a setup sweeper. Not really too much else to say about it.
Heatran @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Ancient Power
- Overheat
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
I realised that I'm missing out on a wall breaker. I originally had a Specs Sylveon, but it just lacked something and I was extremely Ferrothorn weak. So I changed up to a Heatran that works in a similar way. Ancient power for Talon/CharY and I feel like it's needed or they'll just setup and sweep me in a good players case. Overheat as I feel like Heatran doesn't want to stay in too long and just wants to get off the most damage possible. Flash Cannon is for STAB while hitting fairies hard and Earth Power is for other Trans and CharX etc. I like to use Modest simply because I was using Sylveon before and I was used to what I can outspeed and what not. Plus the extra 10% damage is useful.
Thanks for viewing this, and I hope you can help me out as this is easily the best team I've ever made and I want to finally break into the 1700 ELO, as I keep peaking around 1650 or so averaging around 1600.
I'll take any criticism you want to give the team, so don't be afraid to be harsh about it, and if you are going to give any pokemon and sets to use, please try to keep them offensively orientated, so nothing like Chansey or Cresselia who would just mess this up! Also, I like to have a 3-3 Balance between physical/Special, although I'm not going to say a strict no to 4-2 if it's needed.
Thanks again!
Importable
Onto the team thinking process:
I wanted to base it around Mega Gyarados and a fast volt switcher, of which I chose Raikou (Assault vest) and a secondary win condition being Swords Dance Talonflame. In a way, I feel like I can't get rid of any of my pokemon for anything better, but at the same time, I know that it can get better.
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 Def / 248 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
This Gyarados is Jolly nature simply to beat anything above 145+ after a dragon dance, substitute to beat the pokémon which try to cause status or leech seed such as Will-o-Wispers, the final two moves are it's two STABS. I was almost tempted to go with Aqua Tail over Waterfall for a little bit of extra damage, but I generally get unlucky with moves which aren't 100% accuracy, so I would rather the guaranteed hit.
The rest goes into defense because that's the weakest defense and 8 EV's aren't really going to do too much so I didn't think it'd be a huge deal where they went.
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Healing Wish
Latias is my Defogger of choice because it has access to Healing Wish, which has came in handy many times to heal Gyara or anyone else that needs it, and it takes a lot of pressure off me knowing that I can just get anything back to full health and healthy at any given moment. Draco and Psyshock because STAB and they hit hard while getting decent coverage (Hi, anything that is steel).
Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 16 SpD / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
Raikou is generally my starting Pokémon, mainly because it has access to Volt Switch and can move to HP Ice if necessary when Ground types come in on it. I also use it as a lead because many people start with Tyranitar and Landorus-T which are often scarfs, and because Raikou has pressure, I can check before any moves have been used whether or not they have the scarf attached. If they do, I can go out to an appropriate check, without them knowing that I know they're scarf all while maintaining momentum and the advantage.
Moveset is the typical AV set, with Shadow Ball over Extrasensory as I lack ghost coverage anywhere else.
240 Speed EV's to outspeed max speed Serperior by 1. I used to have 228 or something to outspeed the genies but then a Serperior came and almost Swept me, so I now outrun that on this set. The rest go into SpDef to just get that extra special bulk as there is no dedicated Special wall.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Endure
I used to run a Defensive Lando-T in this spot, but I felt that I was under way too much pressure from Bisharp if I hadn't Mega'd Gyarados, plus this particular Garchomp puts pressure on two of my most hated pokemon, Mega Metagross and Mega Lopunny with endure and EQ. I'll be honest, I stole the set from the Creative/Underrated Sets thread, but hey, it's not illegal. EQ is the obvious STAB, and because the team lacks a rock user, I stuck that on him with Toxic to help wear down the more bulky pokemon that I struggle with. Endure also helps wear the toxic life down while giving another 28% damage to all the contact making pokemon. It can also be used as a pseudo protect to see which move the opponent uses. Also, because I have Healing wish on Latias, I can always have a second chance if I mess up somewhere.
Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 88 HP / 244 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
Typical Swords Dance Talonflame but with a little extra speed. I remember there was a reason why I wanted it to reach 365 speed, but I can't particularly remember why now! Maybe it was a certain threat at +1 or something, but the use for this pokemon is to have a good priority while giving also being a setup sweeper. Not really too much else to say about it.
Heatran @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Ancient Power
- Overheat
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
I realised that I'm missing out on a wall breaker. I originally had a Specs Sylveon, but it just lacked something and I was extremely Ferrothorn weak. So I changed up to a Heatran that works in a similar way. Ancient power for Talon/CharY and I feel like it's needed or they'll just setup and sweep me in a good players case. Overheat as I feel like Heatran doesn't want to stay in too long and just wants to get off the most damage possible. Flash Cannon is for STAB while hitting fairies hard and Earth Power is for other Trans and CharX etc. I like to use Modest simply because I was using Sylveon before and I was used to what I can outspeed and what not. Plus the extra 10% damage is useful.
Thanks for viewing this, and I hope you can help me out as this is easily the best team I've ever made and I want to finally break into the 1700 ELO, as I keep peaking around 1650 or so averaging around 1600.
I'll take any criticism you want to give the team, so don't be afraid to be harsh about it, and if you are going to give any pokemon and sets to use, please try to keep them offensively orientated, so nothing like Chansey or Cresselia who would just mess this up! Also, I like to have a 3-3 Balance between physical/Special, although I'm not going to say a strict no to 4-2 if it's needed.
Thanks again!
Importable
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 Def / 248 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Healing Wish
Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 16 SpD / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Endure
Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 88 HP / 244 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
Heatran @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Ancient Power
- Overheat
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 Def / 248 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Healing Wish
Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 16 SpD / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Endure
Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 88 HP / 244 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
Heatran @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Ancient Power
- Overheat
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
