Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 192 Atk / 4 Def / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
Role: Physical Sweeper
What It Does: Non-Mega Gyarados is a very good set-up sweeper, even if it's Mega Evolution offers more straight up power and bulk. Water/Flying is a slightly better defensive typing than Water/Dark and, combined with Gyara's decent defenses, gives it the opportunity to get up multiple boosts before attempting a sweep. It's speed tier at +1 is just ahead of Greninja and base speed 120 Pokemon. Waterfall and Bounce are it's STAB moves, and they have good coverage between them. Bounce may seem like an odd choice, however it hits most of the Water, Dragon, and Grass types that resist Waterfall. Substitute allows Gyara to dodge status and grab more Dragon Dances. Sub and Intimdate also pair well, as some Intimidated Pokemon can't break the Sub. Substitute also allows Gyara to dodge revenge kills from priority and Scarfers that would otherwise take it down.
Good Teammates: Gyarados fits very well in Fire-Water-Grass cores. Grass types in particular make good teammates, as they can take Electric, Grass, and bulky Water types on. Mega Venusaur and Ferrothorn are very good teammates in this regard. Fire types also make good teammates, as Gyarados takes the Ground and Water attacks that Fire types draw very well. Heatran in particular likes Gyarados as a teammate because Gyarados can take on Water types like Keldeo very well, and Gyara is also immune to Earthquake and resists Fighting. Gyarados also pairs well with hazard removers. The Lati@s twins are good in this regard, as is Excadrill. Gyarados and Excadrill actually share fantastic synergy, covering each others weaknesses well. Tyranitar is a good idea if using Excadrill, in order to maximize Excadrill's potential. Magnezone can be a good teammate to take out Ferrothorn, who otherwise gives Gyarados huge problems.
What Counters It: Ferrothorn walls this Gyarados hard, especially with Protect. Anything that resists Water and has Protect is a good answer in reality, because Bounce requires two turns to use. Electric types like Manectric, Zapdos, Rotom-W and Raikou are very strong checks, because both can switch in on Gyarados mid-Bounce and take very little damage. Rotom-W in particular has a good match-up against Gyara, resisting both of it's STABs.
Any Additional Info: I can't stress this enough, Ferrothorn makes Gyarados' life miserable. Carry at least two answers to Ferrothorn if you plan on using this.
Azelf @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 HP / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Explosion
- Taunt
Role: Support
What It Does: Take any set-up sweeper, and potentially double it's bulk.That's what Dual Screens Azelf (in theory at least) does. It sets screens, Taunts the opposing lead, and then Explodes. Explosion deals a ton of damage even with the nerfs in recent generations (it used to cut the opponent's Defense in half, way back when), and forces early switches as well as breaking Sashes. EVs give it the maximum amount of bulk to get both Screens up. EVs can also be put into Attack from HP to give Explosion more punch. Ideally, after Azelf Explodes, the opponent will not have Hazards down and you will have dual screens. This is not always the case, sometimes Azelf doesn't get both screens up. Even with one screen can often get the match off to a quick start, especially when patching a lesser defense stat (for example, Mega Gardevoir behind just Reflect is a monster, as is Mega Pinsir behind Light Screen).
Good Teammates: Any threatening sweeper or wallbreaker really. Char-X, Thundurus-I, Mega Gallade, Mega Metagross, Mega Pinsir, Landorus-I, really anything with some firepower. Azelf functions independently from a synergy standpoint, it really doesn't contribute to the team in a defensive or offensive manner. The best way to take advantage of the screens is to give Azelf teammates that are somewhat bulky and really dangerous after a turn or two of set-up. SD Talonflame and SD Gallade are are prime examples of this, they have decent bulk without screens, but with screens they become just that much more deadly and that much harder to stop.
What Counters It: Nothing really counters it exactly, but some things can give it trouble. Gengar is immune to Explosion, carries Taunt, and has STAB Shadow Ball to potentially take out Azelf. Thundurus is also a good check as well. Every though it most likely dies to an Explosion, it's Prankster Taunt can stop the Screens before they even have a chance to go up, resulting in a 1v1 trade at the worst if Thundurus is the lead.
Any Additional Info: Be conservative with Explosion. You don't always have to go boom if you don't feel the need to. Watch out for Ferrothorn and Heatran, as they will more than willingly tank the Explosion. Exploding on Skarm isn't a terrible idea, however, as it breaks Sturdy.
boltsandbombers didn't see your reservation on SDef Gliscor. Sorry about that bud. I did skim through beforehand, I just must have missed it.
