Hello Smogon ! This is my first competitive team, after lurking on Smogon for a long time I decided (like many others) that it was time to try and see what happens !
So I'll try to explain how I created this team which works actually pretty good at the moment on Showdown.
First of all, I discovered Mega Mawile and immediately fell in love with the little double-jawed thing. With her new great typing and her amazing bulk and attack stat thanks to Huge Power, her only drawback remained her awful Speed. Because it is so abysmal, I decided to maximise her bulk in order to let her tank a few hits before going down - netting KOs in the process since she hits really hard, even with uninvested Attack. This is where I thought of building a bulky offense team, a playstyle I find more suited to me than heavy offense.
But going full defense wasn't enough to let her live long enough, so I needed to buff up defenses again : and here comes my lead in the team, the famous (and sometimes so infuriating) Klefki. No ragequitting worth strategies here, no subswagtwave, but instead a wonderful Dual Screener, which profits to the whole team.
With two Steel/Fairies in the team, I needed a good typing synergy to improve balance. Criteria were obviously resisting Fire and Ground, and eventually bring a pack of complementary resistances with the Steel/Fairy ones. Two double types are great when it comes to this : Water/Flying and mostly Dragon/Flying (the latter having almost perfect complementarity with Steel/Fairy, the weakness of one being resisted by the other, and leaving only Electrik and Ghost (iirc) unresisted by both). Well, why not both ? Welcome to Dragonite and Gyarados. Dragonite is awesome with Multiscale+DS, tanks pretty much everything especially on the special side. Gyarados is a bulky DD, unstoppable once its boosted and going on its rampage - I had a few 6-0 thanks to this monster.
With two Flying in the team, I was in great risk concerning Stealth Rock, and Spikes hit both Kleki and Mawile, so I needed a spinner : Tentacruel is one of choice, with its good bulk and typing. Fitting perfectly with its great support moves like Knock Off and Rapid Spin, the Kraken was soon released in the team.
Finally, I wanted a check to the threatening Talonflame, and what is the number one in this category ? Rotom-W. Adding momentum with Volt Switch, burning sweepers wit WoW, its help is often determining in a battle.
So here is the team :
Mega Mawile, like a truck
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 130 SDef / 126 Def
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Brick Break
- Swords Dance
With Huge Power, she hits hard even uninvested. I gave her Adamant Nature to help her a bit though. Regarding the EV repartition, I preferred to balance EV between Def and SpD so she doesn't fall at the first Flamethrower or Earth Power - which is often unexpected.
The movepool is quite standard, Play Rough for STAB, SP for priority which is great considering her below-low Speed, Brick Breack is often surprising a Mega Luke trying to get a SD over the switch, or other Steel-types. Swords Dance is here for when I have the opportunity, and when I can place one, it's really time to say GG.
Intimidate allows me to play with her and Gyarados, if predicting correctly against a physical sweeper - going with Mawile, knowing he'll go with EQ, switching to Gyara, expecting a Stone Edge, so switching back to Mawile...
Klefki, here goes the lead
Klefki @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
Impish Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Foul Play
- Thunder Wave
I like how trollish this Pokemon is. When opponent sees it as lead, he immediately switches to Magic Bounce Espeon/Xatu/w/e he has to counter Swagkey, giving me a free turn to screen. Thunder Wave is useful in mid- or late-game, when the opposing sweepers cannot afford losing Speed. And Foul Play is here against Taunt users or boosting physical sweepers thinking I don't have it since I'm no Swagkey. I had Toxic instead, but since I've changed that I find Foul Play more useful.
EV repartition allows me to tank physical hits better, and the extra speed point is here against other Klefkis.
Dragonite, almost unbreakable tank
Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Gentle Nature
- Dragon Claw
- ExtremeSpeed
- Fire Blast
- Roost
Almost unbreakable - which is already great. Multiscale is really OP, going along with Roost and Lefties, and most of the time Dual Screens. Dragonite has often saved me as my last Poke blasting through the rest of the ennemy team.
Special tank, uninvested in Attack and Speed - I might have to change that but I don't know exactly how to keep good bulk with that.
I had Dragon Claw, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch when I played pre-Pokebank, but it was not that good. Here, ES is often relieving, and I really enjoy Fire Blasting ennemy Scizor/Ferrothorn/Genesect/Skarmory thinking "lol Outrage or Dragon Claw, go for it n00b".
Gyarados, the Leviathan on its way to sweep
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 248 Atk / 4 Def / 168 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
A true killer. Standard bulky DD set, author of 6-0 sweeps... Intimidate is preferred over Moxie because I like to play with lots of switches, and after getting 1-2 DD is already is OP.
Waterfall and Earthquake are good coverage options for the large majority of OU ; I used to have Stone Miss but after a few losses due to the 0% precision, I decided to go with EQ with has the advantage to OHKO Aegislash at +2.
I noticed that Rotom-W is often powerless against Gyara, as it tries to WoW on the sub, and then can only break it with Volt Switch.
Tentacruel, Kraken-of-all-trades
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SDef / 16 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Acid Spray
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
The spinner. Also Special Tank. And Burner with Scald. Knock Offer of course. And Acid Sprayer - while it may seem gimmicky, it's in fact quite good, as it forces switches or lets the opponent go 0.5 SDef which is often not comfortable.
Liquid Ooze is particularly funny against Ferrothorn or Trevenant, by anticipating an incoming Leech Seed.
Rotom-W, solid dishwasher
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Def / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Finally the last teammate, useful everytime it gets out of its ball. WoW is here for obvious reasons, after 1 or 2 Intimidates and behind Reflect, there's nothing left of physical sweepers. Hydro Pump because Hydro Pump, Volt Switch is perfect for its role, and finally Pain Split, which is the reason why i gave no HP EV, so Rotom heals more while taking away more ennemy HP - and it allows it to resist both physical and special side. Bold is here because its primary goal is to put a stop to Talonflame.
Well that makes the team, which I quite like this way, but there's still some threats I have difficulty to handle, for example priority users like Mega Luke once Tentacruel is down, or really strong sweepers like Mega Heracross... Also Defog (or Brick Break but I don't see it much) is really annoying, like tricking a choice item on Klefki, or putting it to sleep - but the battle isn't lost for that, and quite often I manage to get back to business. But the real nemesis of this team are status users. Mawile or Dragonite burnt are often left useless. Same goes for Gyara. Tentacruel doesn't like it either, and Rotom-W doesn't take poison well - speaking of poison, it breaks Multiscale, so Dragonite isn't fond of it either. Paralysis may seem like the less terrible, as Klefki has priority, Rotom-W is immune, M-Mawile and Dragonite are slow as f*ck, Tentacruel doesn't really care about speed, and Gyara is subbed, but one miss and the game isn't in my favor...
So here's the thing, I hope you find it good - but not much so you'll have things to say and advice to give ! Thank you in advance !
So I'll try to explain how I created this team which works actually pretty good at the moment on Showdown.
First of all, I discovered Mega Mawile and immediately fell in love with the little double-jawed thing. With her new great typing and her amazing bulk and attack stat thanks to Huge Power, her only drawback remained her awful Speed. Because it is so abysmal, I decided to maximise her bulk in order to let her tank a few hits before going down - netting KOs in the process since she hits really hard, even with uninvested Attack. This is where I thought of building a bulky offense team, a playstyle I find more suited to me than heavy offense.
But going full defense wasn't enough to let her live long enough, so I needed to buff up defenses again : and here comes my lead in the team, the famous (and sometimes so infuriating) Klefki. No ragequitting worth strategies here, no subswagtwave, but instead a wonderful Dual Screener, which profits to the whole team.
With two Steel/Fairies in the team, I needed a good typing synergy to improve balance. Criteria were obviously resisting Fire and Ground, and eventually bring a pack of complementary resistances with the Steel/Fairy ones. Two double types are great when it comes to this : Water/Flying and mostly Dragon/Flying (the latter having almost perfect complementarity with Steel/Fairy, the weakness of one being resisted by the other, and leaving only Electrik and Ghost (iirc) unresisted by both). Well, why not both ? Welcome to Dragonite and Gyarados. Dragonite is awesome with Multiscale+DS, tanks pretty much everything especially on the special side. Gyarados is a bulky DD, unstoppable once its boosted and going on its rampage - I had a few 6-0 thanks to this monster.
With two Flying in the team, I was in great risk concerning Stealth Rock, and Spikes hit both Kleki and Mawile, so I needed a spinner : Tentacruel is one of choice, with its good bulk and typing. Fitting perfectly with its great support moves like Knock Off and Rapid Spin, the Kraken was soon released in the team.
Finally, I wanted a check to the threatening Talonflame, and what is the number one in this category ? Rotom-W. Adding momentum with Volt Switch, burning sweepers wit WoW, its help is often determining in a battle.
So here is the team :
Mega Mawile, like a truck
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 130 SDef / 126 Def
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Brick Break
- Swords Dance
With Huge Power, she hits hard even uninvested. I gave her Adamant Nature to help her a bit though. Regarding the EV repartition, I preferred to balance EV between Def and SpD so she doesn't fall at the first Flamethrower or Earth Power - which is often unexpected.
The movepool is quite standard, Play Rough for STAB, SP for priority which is great considering her below-low Speed, Brick Breack is often surprising a Mega Luke trying to get a SD over the switch, or other Steel-types. Swords Dance is here for when I have the opportunity, and when I can place one, it's really time to say GG.
Intimidate allows me to play with her and Gyarados, if predicting correctly against a physical sweeper - going with Mawile, knowing he'll go with EQ, switching to Gyara, expecting a Stone Edge, so switching back to Mawile...
Klefki, here goes the lead
Klefki @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
Impish Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Foul Play
- Thunder Wave
I like how trollish this Pokemon is. When opponent sees it as lead, he immediately switches to Magic Bounce Espeon/Xatu/w/e he has to counter Swagkey, giving me a free turn to screen. Thunder Wave is useful in mid- or late-game, when the opposing sweepers cannot afford losing Speed. And Foul Play is here against Taunt users or boosting physical sweepers thinking I don't have it since I'm no Swagkey. I had Toxic instead, but since I've changed that I find Foul Play more useful.
EV repartition allows me to tank physical hits better, and the extra speed point is here against other Klefkis.
Dragonite, almost unbreakable tank
Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Gentle Nature
- Dragon Claw
- ExtremeSpeed
- Fire Blast
- Roost
Almost unbreakable - which is already great. Multiscale is really OP, going along with Roost and Lefties, and most of the time Dual Screens. Dragonite has often saved me as my last Poke blasting through the rest of the ennemy team.
Special tank, uninvested in Attack and Speed - I might have to change that but I don't know exactly how to keep good bulk with that.
I had Dragon Claw, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch when I played pre-Pokebank, but it was not that good. Here, ES is often relieving, and I really enjoy Fire Blasting ennemy Scizor/Ferrothorn/Genesect/Skarmory thinking "lol Outrage or Dragon Claw, go for it n00b".
Gyarados, the Leviathan on its way to sweep
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 248 Atk / 4 Def / 168 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
A true killer. Standard bulky DD set, author of 6-0 sweeps... Intimidate is preferred over Moxie because I like to play with lots of switches, and after getting 1-2 DD is already is OP.
Waterfall and Earthquake are good coverage options for the large majority of OU ; I used to have Stone Miss but after a few losses due to the 0% precision, I decided to go with EQ with has the advantage to OHKO Aegislash at +2.
I noticed that Rotom-W is often powerless against Gyara, as it tries to WoW on the sub, and then can only break it with Volt Switch.
Tentacruel, Kraken-of-all-trades
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SDef / 16 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Acid Spray
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
The spinner. Also Special Tank. And Burner with Scald. Knock Offer of course. And Acid Sprayer - while it may seem gimmicky, it's in fact quite good, as it forces switches or lets the opponent go 0.5 SDef which is often not comfortable.
Liquid Ooze is particularly funny against Ferrothorn or Trevenant, by anticipating an incoming Leech Seed.
Rotom-W, solid dishwasher
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Def / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Finally the last teammate, useful everytime it gets out of its ball. WoW is here for obvious reasons, after 1 or 2 Intimidates and behind Reflect, there's nothing left of physical sweepers. Hydro Pump because Hydro Pump, Volt Switch is perfect for its role, and finally Pain Split, which is the reason why i gave no HP EV, so Rotom heals more while taking away more ennemy HP - and it allows it to resist both physical and special side. Bold is here because its primary goal is to put a stop to Talonflame.
Well that makes the team, which I quite like this way, but there's still some threats I have difficulty to handle, for example priority users like Mega Luke once Tentacruel is down, or really strong sweepers like Mega Heracross... Also Defog (or Brick Break but I don't see it much) is really annoying, like tricking a choice item on Klefki, or putting it to sleep - but the battle isn't lost for that, and quite often I manage to get back to business. But the real nemesis of this team are status users. Mawile or Dragonite burnt are often left useless. Same goes for Gyara. Tentacruel doesn't like it either, and Rotom-W doesn't take poison well - speaking of poison, it breaks Multiscale, so Dragonite isn't fond of it either. Paralysis may seem like the less terrible, as Klefki has priority, Rotom-W is immune, M-Mawile and Dragonite are slow as f*ck, Tentacruel doesn't really care about speed, and Gyara is subbed, but one miss and the game isn't in my favor...
So here's the thing, I hope you find it good - but not much so you'll have things to say and advice to give ! Thank you in advance !
