One more Trick in my sleeve

[ThiS2Vi]

Hello Smogon! This is my first RMT, excuse me if i am quite noob, i played Pokemon all my life but i recently discovered the PO world. Also, please excuse me for my poor english, which is my second language, fell free to correct me and land some suggestions on improving the team. So, without further ado let's take a quick look at my current UU tier team members:

So this team resolves around four Choice users (!), two of them are tricksters, which are the core of the strategy. In Pokemon, like in most of the RPG, whoever has a bigger versatility, a bigger hall of ways to the victory, has a bigger chance of achieving it :nerd:. Or at least this team aims to that premiss. Shall we go to the description my 'mons?

THE SUPPORT

DNA Blob @ Leftovers
Deoxys-D
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
Calm (+SDef, -Atk)
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Night Shade
- Recover

Deoxys-D is my main special wall, and sometimes lead. Reaching 304 HP and 392 SDef is enough to annoy any special hitter and 356 Def means it is very far from frail in the physical side too. It does it all and fears not much in this tier. The investment in speed proves itself very useful to taunt setup sweepers and slower leads. With this speed it can even revenge kill (!) some stuff with Night Shade and Recover means it can take with ease any attempt to 3HKO it. The Spikes setup is much appreciated as i let the SR role for my other wall.

Eyjafjallajökull @ Leftoves
Torkoal
Trait: White Smoke
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sdef
Bold (+Def, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
- Toxic

Like a Boss. Gotta love a turtle that burns coal inside his shell, it is epic, period. Anyways, i wanted a spinner and a defensive wall who covered my large weakness to bugs (damn bugs) and i found this in Torkoal, who is a potent physical wall packing 344 HP and 416 Def. It is not meant to live much though, the purpose it is enter against a physical threat, spin, SR up and possibly Toxic/Burn one or two foes. That is it, it does that successfully often, so i am quite happy with it so far. It is a very easy target to special attacks and suffer a little from SR itself, so it will probably not switch in often.

THE CORE

NotShiny @ Choice Band
Azelf
Trait: Levitate
Evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
Adamant (+Atk, -Satk)
- Trick
- Thunder Wave
- U-turn
- Zen Headbutt

One of the main pokes of the team. Trick on Azelf is proving its value as most people don't see it coming at all, specially now that NP Azelf is becoming more and more popular. The biggest thing about this set is versatility, it can act as wallbreaker, scout or late-game sweeper depending on how the matchup turns out. STAB Zen Headbutt hits hard if you already removed anything that resists it. As lead it can act with Trick on anything that don't want to be banded (a lot of things) if you are faster and cripple the switch with T-wave. U-turn for great scout coming from a banded 383 Atk stat.

NiceSmile @ Choice Specs
Rotom-C
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Satk / 252 Spe
IVs: 30 Spe
Modest (+Satk, -Atk)
- Trick
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- HP Ice

The other trickster. I have to use him a lot more cautious though, as he is very slower than Azelf and i opted for Specs over Scarf for more raw power. I use him because Electric/Grass/Ice helps me a lot with coverage issues and there are not much teams that wants to face two more of his pokes wearing a choice item. He is also my only special attacker, which can come in handy.

Crowhat? @ Choice Band
Crobat
Trait: Inner Focus
Evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
Adamant (+Atk, -Satk)
- Brave Bird
- Zen Headbutt
- Pursuit
- U-turn

Now with Staraptor gone Crobat can shine as one of the main physical threats in the tier. Brave Bird can punch holes in anything that don't resist it and usually takes care of at least one opponent. U-turn hits hard while keeping the momentum and Pursuit to trap those pesky Ghosts and Psychics, i assume he is not the best at this role but it have a function every now and then. Zen Headbutt is just for coverage, i could change for Super Fang or something else though.

MegaHorny @ Choice Scarf
Heracross
Trait: Guts
Evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
Adamant (+Atk, -Satk)
- Megahorn
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

This scary beetle is my revenge killer and it is a damn good one. It hits really hard and has great coverage making switch in against him hard, and leaving the opponent with hard decisions to make. I sometimes use him as anti-lead to take the opponent by surprise and oftem switch him in as i scent a Burn/Toxic attempt, don't want to get him paralyzed though as it would really hurt the strategy. He is also my main answer against Deo-D.​

That is all for now friends, i hope you guys liked the team and have some good suggestions to improve it! Thanks for reading.

 

[athleteandy1]

Having 4 choiced pokes is quite a lot. Maybe cut off one or two of them

 

[ThiS2Vi]

Having 4 choiced pokes is quite a lot. Maybe cut off one or two of them

Do you think?

Even considering that 3 of then are scouters and 2 of then are Trick users?

 

[blaziken662]

Hi there! I'm also concerned about the fact 4 of your pokes are choiced, because your spinner is weak to SR and affected by (T)Spikes so he can't perform it's job for too long in the match... U-turn can become a 2-sided edge forcing you to rack unnecessary residual damage to your party.

I can suggest you to change TW on Azelf for another offensive move, because being choice locked into TW can be an instant call for him to switch out. Explosion can be a nice (but situational) option because of Choice Band and can blow holes on opposite walls and flat the battle ground for your remaining team, but you can also try Fire Punch to hurt Evolite Ferroseed, Registeel, and other steel types that can wall its set.

Another nice idea can be (if you want) give Hitmontop a chance to fit Torkoal's place. Hitmontop has nice 50/95/110 defensive stats, resistance against those pesky Bug-type moves and a wonderful trait in Intimidate, also he is the only UU spinner that can hit Ghost-types with Rapid Spin and Close Combat! A nice set can be:

Hitmontop@Leftovers
Intimidate
Impish
252 HP/252 Def/4 Att or SpDef
Close Combat
Mach Punch/Sucker Punch
Foresigth
Rapid Spin

It's a nice guy, can keep your field free from hazards and can finish the weakened pokes your Choice ones left alive.

I'll be glad to know your feedback even if it's negative, good luck and thanks for your attention!

 

[ThiS2Vi]

Hi there! I'm also concerned about the fact 4 of your pokes are choiced, because your spinner is weak to SR and affected by (T)Spikes so he can't perform it's job for too long in the match... U-turn can become a 2-sided edge forcing you to rack unnecessary residual damage to your party.

I can suggest you to change TW on Azelf for another offensive move, because being choice locked into TW can be an instant call for him to switch out. Explosion can be a nice (but situational) option because of Choice Band and can blow holes on opposite walls and flat the battle ground for your remaining team, but you can also try Fire Punch to hurt Evolite Ferroseed, Registeel, and other steel types that can wall its set.

Another nice idea can be (if you want) give Hitmontop a chance to fit Torkoal's place. Hitmontop has nice 50/95/110 defensive stats, resistance against those pesky Bug-type moves and a wonderful trait in Intimidate, also he is the only UU spinner that can hit Ghost-types with Rapid Spin and Close Combat! A nice set can be:

Hitmontop@Leftovers
Intimidate
Impish
252 HP/252 Def/4 Att or SpDef
Close Combat
Mach Punch/Sucker Punch
Foresigth
Rapid Spin

It's a nice guy, can keep your field free from hazards and can finish the weakened pokes your Choice ones left alive.

I'll be glad to know your feedback even if it's negative, good luck and thanks for your attention!

Hi there blaziken662, thanks for the input!

On T-wave, well i actually never been locked into it because i never use it before giving band away. That said i will definitely consider changing it to Fire Punch, but against walls i prefer to go i prefer just to Trick instead exploding of my self :naughty:

I actually used defensive Hitmontop in other teams but never thought into using him on this team. I will test it for sure though, as he is resistant to bugs (forgot that), and also has something that the team lacks: priority. My main concern is that if i make this changes i will have no way whatsoever to status the foes, which can be a huge problem and will lose the ability to use one between Spikes/SR.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[blaziken662]

Hi again! I'm glad you're taking into account my reviews for your team, thanks!

Well... I always find better to lay SR than Spikes, as Spikes need at least two layers to become effective so you can switch them in your Deoxys-D set while keeping Hitmontop, but if you need a poke that can be a Spinner AND a SR layer then Donphan can fill the task, as he is pretty bulky and can even revenge kill stuff as long he has Strudy active, but you couldn't spin away hazards against Ghost-types.

Donphan@Leftovers/Impish/Sturdy
252 HP/100 Att/156 Def
Earthquake
Ice Shard/Knock Off
Rapid Spin
SR

This is a custom EV spread made only to reach 301 Att stat to boost the power of EQ and Ice Shard.

I wish you can test both Hitmontop or Donphan in that party slot to find who is better for your team and playstyle. Good luck!

 

[Red M]

Decent team, I don't see any huge weaknesses. Remember though that Trick can easily backfire. Reliance on Trick and on choices Pokémon is your biggest weakness.

And while I am a fan of Torkoal, I have to say Donphan is probably the better choice.

 

[august]

Honestly I think that Crobat has better things to be doing than running a Choice Band set. Taunt Crobat is a cold stop to Chansey, Spikes Roserade, Ferroseed, and in general will force a lot of switches to rack up Spikes damage. Roost gives you more longevity, as you won't always be able to punch holes with Choice users early; you're going to need to stay around a bit longer especially against threats like Mismagius. Crobat can also handle Missy decently (or atleast, better than your current set). Speaking of Mismagius, i suggest Pursuit on Heracross to get rid of Mismagius a bit faster. Pursuit should go over Earthquake, which does little outside of hitting the Nidos, and in return gives a lot of free turns, which is not worth it in my opinion.

Torkoal is Stealth Rock weak, which makes it a pretty poor choice for a spinner, i'd much rather use Donphan or Blastoise. Blastoise still gives you a good switch into Victini and Scald can burn switch ins, making them easier to beat with your Choice users late game. The only downside of Blastoise is that you lose Stealth Rock. If you use Blastoise, you'd have to run Stealth Rock over Thunder Wave on Azelf, so you can set them up after you Trick away your Choice Band. Donphan gives you a slightly more offensive approach to spinning with its large attack stat and it can Stealth Rock easily. However, you lose your switch into Victini which is very unfortunate. If you do choose to run Donphan, you might want to consider Pursuit MixDoom over Rotom-c possibly to handle Ghosts, revenge kill with priority and give you a solid switch into Fire-attacks (oh and Pursuit OHKOs Choice Victini locked into V Create).

So in short,
Crobat -> Roost Bat.

Crobat @ Leftovers
Jolly nature, 252 HP / 252 Spe / 4 Atk
-Brave Bird
-Taunt
-Roost
-U-turn

Torkoal -> Blastoise or Donphan
possibly Rotom-c -> Mixdoom

Earthquake -> Pursuit on Heracross