No Cool Name Team

[Viddax89]

I started this team as my first truly competitive team. I’ve been playing with this team and adjusting it as I went along. This team has done pretty well for itself as I’ve gotten better at predicting switches and utilizing this team’s strengths. I know it has a lot of holes and I’m not sure how to fill them without losing too much. I’m trying to avoid using legendary Pokemon even though there are plenty in this tier (sort of a weird pride thing). So here’s my team!

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Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: HP 252 / Def 4 / Spe252
Nature: Adamant
Moves:
Ice Shard
Endeavor
Earthquake
Stealth Rock

I lead with my Mamoswine 98% of the time. Based on who I am up against I use Stealth Rocks to get the entry hazards up. If I run into something that can OHKO me (like a Ninetales, Virizion, etc.) I Endeavor after being saved with my Focus Sash and then can usually finish them off with a priority Ice Shard. Mamoswine has KO’d 100% of Gliscor, Yanmega, and Ninjasks that it has faced since no one seems to expect priority Ice Shard. He’s turned out to be a solid lead that I can switch out and into if need be.

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Cloyster @ White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spe 252
Ability: Adamant
Moves:
Icicle Spear
Rock Blast
Rapid Spin
Shell Smash

Probable my most questionable addition is Cloyster. After getting destroyed in several matches due to stacked entry hazards, I knew I needed a Rapid Spinner. Cloyster seemed like the best bet with Icicle Spear to take down and Ground/Flying types Mamoswine missed or couldn’t OHKO. I only Shell Smash if I think I have the opportunity to survive one hit. As I’ve gotten through most matches without having to use Cloyster, I haven’t put much stock in this slot.

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Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: HP 252/ Atk 252 / Spd 4
Nature: Adamant
Moves:
Bullet Punch
U-Turn
Swords Dance
Superpower

Scizor has turned into a bit of a wall due to his Steel type and quick moves (Bullet Punch and U-Turn). I usually switch into him if I think I can predict my opponent’s move and have it do very little. Being able to set up with Swords Dance is a rarity as I don’t get too many chances to set up as he comes in and leaves quickly due to his weakness to fire types and slow speed.

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Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spe252
Nature: Jolly
Moves:
Dragon Claw
Fire Fang
Earthquake
Stone Edge

A Garchomp I am very proud of. I chose Dragon Claw over Outrage so I don’t have an opponent switch into something with Protect and stall me out until I’m confused. The Choice Scarf has allowed me to out speed and OHKO every unsuspecting dragon it has gone up against (including Latios and Latias). I tend to not use Fire Fang , Earthquake, or Stone Edge since I get locked into one move and I get the STAB from Dragon Claw and at least 2HKO most opponents.

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Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: HP 252 / Def 36 / SpD 220
Nature: Calm
Moves:
Toxic
Recover
Scald
Protect

Jellicent has used its Ghost type to switch in against countless incoming fighting and normal type moves. This move set has done average for me but still has holes. I like having Protect to stall after toxic and the Recover/Scald combo can stall out opposing Alakzams and other fast and hard hitters. I do wish it had access to Shadow Ball and Will-O-Wisp but whenever I switch moves, I always seem to be in need of the other during the next battle.

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Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: HP 4 / SpA 252 / Spe 252
Nature: Timid
Moves:
Psyshock
Shadow Ball
Focus Blast
Hidden Power Fire

Alakazam has been an unexpected gem as his high speed and damaging moves makes him a great final sweeper. It’s hard to switch into him as even SpA attacks do a considerable amount of to him if I’m not able to OHKO an opponent. Hidden Power Fire has dealt with Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Jirachi. Couple this with his Life Orb/Magic Guard, there is a lot that he can sweep through. Alakazam has become one of my deadliest Pokemon (next to Garchomp) but can’t take a hit to save his life.

After using this team a lot, I have noticed some holes that I’m not sure how to deal with:

- Sun Teams. Dealing with Ninetales or Arcanine after Mamoswine loses its Focus Sash or faints are awful to deal with as I have few that can outspeed it and deal significant damage without suffering damage myself.
- Entry Hazards. Due to Cloyster’s lack of speed, it’s hard to switch in from another Pokemon and take 2 hits before getting off a Rapid Spin.
- Electric attacks. I have none. Running into Gyarados and others like it can be troubling without a T-bolt.

Thank you for the tips and suggestions. I’m trying really hard to get into competitive battling and doing my best to get better!

 

[Jirachee]

Hi

This seems alright for a first team, however I think that there are some things that need to be changed for it to work better. The main threats I see to this team are special attackers like Latios, and Sun teams with like Venusaur and Volcarona. Latios can curbstomp everything on your team with Specs Draco Meteor as your current Scizor is a pretty horrible check to it, you basically only check it if the opponent plays bad. You have no other Dragon resist so everything on your team gets OHKOed or 2HKOed, which is a bad situation to be into. This also applies to things like Life Orb Latias to a lesser extent. As for Sun teams, you have no way to control the weather yourself, and Venusaur and Volcarona basically just run through your team really easily. You can't really stop their sweep as you're using Mamoswine for Stealth Rock, which means you'll have to bring it to sash range anyway, at which point it's no longer able to check Venusaur. For these issues, I suggest two changes. The first would be running a Specially Defensive pivot set on Scizor. That set is much better at check Dragons than your current set, as it's bulkier and can Roost any damage taken. If you predict correctly, you'll have a pretty neat Latios switch in. For the issue with Sun teams, I recommend using a Dragonite instead of Alakazam. Dragonite is a great Pokemon against Sun teams as they usually don't have a lot of ways to OHKO it while it can set up Dragon Dances and wreck the opposition. Alakazam looks like the most disposable member of this team, which is why I think you should replace it. It doesn't look like it's doing much.

Secondly, I don't think Cloyster is a very good Rapid Spinner. Since you now have Dragonite, you'll need a reliable one to keep its Multiscale intact and just to avoid being hazards weak. You said you put Cloyster in there to remove hazards, however it's a fairly slow Pokemon and it's weak to a lot of common attacking types, and has no Special Defense at all, so most Special Attacks are going to OHKO it anyway, giving it very few opportunities to spin. One Pokemon you should consider running instead of it is Starmie. Starmie is a much faster Rapid Spinner which gives it a ton of opportunities to spin away entry hazards. It can also help checking Fighting Pokemon, now that you don't have Alakazam.

On Garchomp, I think you could be running slightly different moves. You mentioned that you are running Dragon Claw instead of Outrage to not get locked in, which is understandable, however sometimes Garchomp just needs the extra power Outrage offers, since Dragon Claw is so weak. Stone Edge is a fairly useless move, so you can run Outrage instead of it. While two Dragon moves might seem redundant, both have their uses and they're more useful than Stone Edge anyway. Also, you should consider running Fire Blast over Fire Fang, as even with a Jolly nature, Fire Blast will hit more relevant targets harder than Fire Fang, especially physically defensive Skarmory which is 2HKOed by Fire Blast and simply lols at Fire Fang.

While Protect is certainly a cool move, I think that it's not the most useful on Jellicent. While gaining an extra turn of Toxic damage and the ability to scout Choiced attackers, you lose on one of Jellicent's best moves: Taunt. Taunt allows it to completely block several support Pokemon who would try to set up hazards, like Ferrothorn. In fact, if you're able to get a Scald burn on Ferrothorn, Jellicent completely shuts it down with Taunt which is certainly cool.

Here are the sets you should use:

Scizor, Dragonite, and Starmie

Scizor @ Leftovers
Technician
Adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 216 SpD
~Bullet Punch
~U-turn
~Swords Dance
~Roost

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Multiscale
Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~Dragon Dance
~Outrage
~ExtremeSpeed
~Fire Punch

Starmie @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Timid
EVs: 248 HP / 24 Def / 8 SpA / 224 Spe
~Scald
~Psyshock
~Recover
~Rapid Spin

Good luck!

 

[Katzali]

I agree with Jirachi (great name lol), you need to replace Cloyster with Starmie. However, while he/she has recommended a set focussed more on longevity, I would recommend a more offenive set:

Starmie @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
Timid
EV's: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
~Scald
~Thunderbolt
~Ice Beam
~Rapid Spin

This set is an effective solution to all of your problems (Literally) Thunderbolt gives you the electric coverage you were looking for, Rapid Spin provides the anti-hazards support you wanted, and Scald helps you deal with sun teams (Plus the burn chance is really useful). Ice beam rounds it off, providing excellent coverage with thunderbolt (But if you really want recover, I would recommend you put it here). I would also recommend replacing Alakazam, but if you did use dragonite as Jirachi suggested, your team would be severely lacking special offence. I recommend Offensive Quiver Dance Volcarona with this set:

Volcarona @ Leftovers
Flame Body
Timid
EV's: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
~Qiver Dance
~Giga Drain
~Bug Buzz
~Fiery Dance

This set is really good. It does what Alakazam does but better and with more bulk. It can take down Ferrothorn, Scizor and Jirachi easily, plus is a great late game sweeper. Quiver Dance is there cause it's amazing, Fiery Dance and Bug Buzz for obligatory STAB (Fiery Dance over Flamethrower since it gets you tonnes of Special Attack boosts) and Giga Drain for longevity and a useful tool against water types who dare stand in Volcarona's way. Other than that, great team!