Warning: fairly long.
Hello! Though I spend most of my time here in Smogon on the RMT forums, I haven't posted my own RMT in a long time, and I've never posted a good RMT, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The idea for my team started when I saw Heracross was almost last in the usage statistics for OU! I decided I wanted to create a team with Heracross, because 1) I love Heracross and I realized that I haven't used him enough, and 2) I thought the metagame seemed slightly Hera-weak. But there came a problem. First and most importantly, I've never been that good at creating a team! I find myself making lots of teams and never sticking to one. I'll make an okay team and get some wins, then go on a losing streak and get frustrated, then quit shoddy for a day, come back and make a new team. My second problem was, how was I going to fit Heracross on a team and make him as effective as possible?
The first thing I thought about was how to use Heracross. I really had only used Choice Band in the past, and his low Speed always got the best of him. I have always been hesitant to use a Choice Scarf Heracross because Choice Scarf pokemon often hit like pillows in comparison to their Life Orb/Choice Band/Spec's counterparts. But after really looking at Heracross, I found that Choice Scarf Heracross does not hit lightly at all. His Close Combat hits almost as hard as mixapes, and with much more Speed! Choice Scarf Heracross it was. But then how can I get the most out of him?
I've always had difficulty using Choice Pokemon. Despite their power, I find myself many-a-time in being put into a losing situation from my own Choice pokemon (Scizor locked into BP becoming setup bait for Gyarados, for example). I found that, at least in my own teams, a Choice'd pokemon often became a cockblock in my team from winning, because they would at times stop or change the momentum of the rest of the team. And then I thought (ephiphany), what if I had a team of all choice pokemon? A team where every pokemon was an immediate threat, with no setup required. A team where the pokemon could check each others weaknesses they obtain by having a Choice item, so the Choice item was no longer a hinderance. And that is how I created this team.
Anyway, speach is over, on with the team!
Donphan @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Nature: Impish
~Earthquake
~Ice Shard
~Rapid Spin
~Stealth Rock
Donphan is very important to this team, and he is the only non choice user. Choosing a lead was very difficult, but Donphan fit the role and is able to do everything I want, plus more! I knew I wanted lots of entry hazards on my team, as I would be forcing a lot of switches, so my first choice for a lead was Forretress. However, he has a fire weakness that I didn't want, he didn't have a priority move, and he wasn't a Ground type (I desperately needed a Ground type on this team to help my Thunderwave 'weakness'). Donphan resists fire (so I don't have to rely on Heatran all the time), has Stealth Rock, has Ice Shard, AND has Rapid Spin. Getting rocks off my side of the battlefield is awesome, as it makes my constant switching much easier on me, especially for Salamence, and gives me a great advantage if rocks are down on his side.
I gave Donphan a Lum Berry because I need a pokemon to take sleep's for the team (Donphan takes Thunderwave thanks to his typing, and Heracross takes Burn and Toxic and gets boosted thanks to Guts.) Not only does this help against the not nearly as common but still existant sleep leads, but also against the mid game sleepers like Breloom.
Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Spa / 252 Spe / 4 Hp
Nature: Naive
~Fire Blast
~Earth Power
~Hidden Power Ice
~Explosion
Despite having played on Shoddy for over a year now, this is my first team with Heatran, and I am very happy with the results. I just didn't like him, but I got over myself and realized that a Scarf Heatran would be awesome for this team, not only in soaking in the Fire attacks directed at Lucario/Heracross, but also at being a powerful check for many pokemon. His typing allows me many switch-ins, a quality I wanted in as many pokemon as possible on this team, due to the teams constant switching nature. Along with his ability to switch into many pokemon, his ability to stop scary threats such as other Heatran, Scizor, Salamence or other Dragons locked into Outrage, and his ability soaking up the Fire attacks that would otherwise threaten my team, Heatran is also strong enough to sweep! That is a trait I wanted everyone (besides Donphan) on the team to be capable of doing. Heatran can also act as my 'oh shit' button and explode on a threat that my team would otherwise have a lot of difficulty with. Some of these threats include, but are not limited to, Calm Mind Cresellia, Kingdra, and Gyarados (though the latter two have to not have DD's or be locked into Outrage).
Salamence @ Choice Specs
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Nature: Modest
~Draco Meteor
~Dragon Pulse
~Hydro Pump
~Fire Blast
Ol' Fire and Forget (fire and forget that it took no skill). Most people aren't ready for Specs Mence, as everyone just uses Latias instead. After I bring out Salamence, everyone brings out their typical DD/CB Mence counter expecting a DD or Outrage, only to find that they've lost most of their HP or are OHKO'd from a Draco Meteor or Hydro Pump. Specs Mence breaks holes in the opposing team early in the game, creating better opportunities towards the end of the game for Heracross and Lucario to sweep. Part of what makes Spec's Mence and the last few pokemon on my team so threatening is their unpredicability. I almost always nab at LEAST one kill with Salamence. Salamence is also (kind of) bulky, mostly thanks to resistances, and can switch into a lot of attacks and be mostly unhindered. Without Life Orb, he doesn't take a trumendous amount of damage, and what ends up taking the most of him is Stealth Rock (which I can hopefully remove early game with Donphan.) He fits another great role on this team; he is a great switch-in to many pokemon (intimidate is so useful), he brings an immediate threat to the opposing team, and he has the ability to sweep, though he mostly just makes it easier for everyone else.
Gengar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 atk
Nature: Mild
~Shadow Ball
~Thunderbolt
~Hidden Power Ice
~Explosion
Gengar is another unpredictable Pokemon in both move set and appeareance that can deal a lot of damage, and is threatening at any stage in the match. It seems people are just starting to catch on that Gengar has quietly snuck around and has become a large threat again, and a lot of teams are not ready to stop him. Gengar fits great on this team because a) SpecsGar is unpredicable and powerful, b) he is quite fast and can act great as an early game attacker or an end game finisher, and c) he is Ghost type and provides an immunity to Explosion, something I really wanted on this team. Gengar (and Salamence) also provide a much needed Ground immunity that would otherwise harm Lucario and Heatran. He also can block spins, though that situation is not nearly as common. I chose HP Ice over Focus Blast, as I have enough Physical type moves on this team thanks to Hera and Lucario. HP Ice llows me to kill non-Speed boosted Dragons. With HP Ice, I can also switch into a Gliscor out against Hera or Lucario predicting an Earthquake, and KO back with HP Ice (assuming they're not Rock Polish boosted). I choose Explosion over Trick/Focus Blast for the reasons mentioned above, and I'd rather KO a pokemon than make it useless, since there are no set-up pokemon on this team. Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt are standard for coverage.
Lucario @ Choice Specs
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Spa / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Nature: Modest
~Aura Sphere
~Vacuum Wave
~Shadow Ball
~Hidden Power Ice
SpecsLuke is a very dangrous and seldom seen pokemon due to SD Luke also being so powerful. However, SpecsLuke takes a lot of teams by surprise and can even 6-0 unprepared teams. The main reason Lucario is on this team is because he works so well with Heracross. Hera and Lucario share a lot of the same counters and initial switch-ins, so one of them weakens the counter for the other. I can generally rely on Lucario to finish sweeping late game if Heracross fails to do so, and vice versa. Vacuum wave is a great move once many pokemon are weakened, and is another awesome priority move I needed on this team. With Vacuum wave I also have a check against pokemon that get set-up, such as Empoleon. Thanks to Choice Specs, I do great damage even to Pokemon that resist it. Aura Sphere and Vacuum wave are really the only moves I use. HP Ice is there if I can predict a Gliscor switch in, or to provide EVEN MORE insurance over Dragons, such as Flygon (Lucario can come in on a Scarfed Flygon locked on outrage and OHKO back with HP Ice). While not 'bulky', Lucario has great resistances which can allow him to switch in and live long enough to attack back. He also only takes 3% damage from Stealth Rock, meaning I have at least one sweeper that can consistently switch in, since Hera, Heatran, and Gengar take decent damage, and Salamence takes great damage from SR.
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
~Close Combat
~Megahorn
~Stone Edge
~Night Slash
Why is this guy so low in usage?! Heracross works on this team as both a late game sweeper, a check to several pokemon, and a status absorber (for burn and poison, Donphan takes the other two.) Scarf Heracross can come in after a fainted pokemon and threaten a lot of todays more common pokemon, including (but not limited to), Latias, Celebi, Empoleon, Gyarados, Mamoswine, Non boosted Salamence, Rotom-A, non boosted Suicune, Starmie, Tyranitar, and Zapdos. Not only that, but Heracross can switch into Rotom-A (which IMO is everywhere), Dusknoir, and Blissey, and take their status, and threaten heavy damage or KO's with Night Slash or Close Combat respectively. Without Guts boost, Heracross can tear through weakened teams (usually with Close Combat and quite easily after Ghosts are dead.) With a Guts boost, he threatens KO's on pokemon even in good health, and thanks to his scarf can only be threatened by other Scarf Pokemon or priority moves. As mentioned earlier, he works great along side Lucario, and often the two cannot be stopped. Hera works best late game after Heatran, Salamence, and Gengar have done their job getting rid of Hera's problem pokemon, namely Gliscor, Gengar, and Scizor. Hera also does well against pokemon that other teams save for late game, often nabbing me the win over them, such as pokemon like Tyranitar, Infernape, Gyarados, and Rhyperior (whom I still outspeed even after a Rock Polish).
There you have it, that is my team. Please read it all before you rate/reply! I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did making it.
Team Overview
(lol jk, Mudkip isn't on the team. He just cheerlead's.)
(lol jk, Mudkip isn't on the team. He just cheerlead's.)
Hello! Though I spend most of my time here in Smogon on the RMT forums, I haven't posted my own RMT in a long time, and I've never posted a good RMT, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The idea for my team started when I saw Heracross was almost last in the usage statistics for OU! I decided I wanted to create a team with Heracross, because 1) I love Heracross and I realized that I haven't used him enough, and 2) I thought the metagame seemed slightly Hera-weak. But there came a problem. First and most importantly, I've never been that good at creating a team! I find myself making lots of teams and never sticking to one. I'll make an okay team and get some wins, then go on a losing streak and get frustrated, then quit shoddy for a day, come back and make a new team. My second problem was, how was I going to fit Heracross on a team and make him as effective as possible?
The first thing I thought about was how to use Heracross. I really had only used Choice Band in the past, and his low Speed always got the best of him. I have always been hesitant to use a Choice Scarf Heracross because Choice Scarf pokemon often hit like pillows in comparison to their Life Orb/Choice Band/Spec's counterparts. But after really looking at Heracross, I found that Choice Scarf Heracross does not hit lightly at all. His Close Combat hits almost as hard as mixapes, and with much more Speed! Choice Scarf Heracross it was. But then how can I get the most out of him?
I've always had difficulty using Choice Pokemon. Despite their power, I find myself many-a-time in being put into a losing situation from my own Choice pokemon (Scizor locked into BP becoming setup bait for Gyarados, for example). I found that, at least in my own teams, a Choice'd pokemon often became a cockblock in my team from winning, because they would at times stop or change the momentum of the rest of the team. And then I thought (ephiphany), what if I had a team of all choice pokemon? A team where every pokemon was an immediate threat, with no setup required. A team where the pokemon could check each others weaknesses they obtain by having a Choice item, so the Choice item was no longer a hinderance. And that is how I created this team.
Anyway, speach is over, on with the team!
Donphan @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Nature: Impish
~Earthquake
~Ice Shard
~Rapid Spin
~Stealth Rock
Donphan is very important to this team, and he is the only non choice user. Choosing a lead was very difficult, but Donphan fit the role and is able to do everything I want, plus more! I knew I wanted lots of entry hazards on my team, as I would be forcing a lot of switches, so my first choice for a lead was Forretress. However, he has a fire weakness that I didn't want, he didn't have a priority move, and he wasn't a Ground type (I desperately needed a Ground type on this team to help my Thunderwave 'weakness'). Donphan resists fire (so I don't have to rely on Heatran all the time), has Stealth Rock, has Ice Shard, AND has Rapid Spin. Getting rocks off my side of the battlefield is awesome, as it makes my constant switching much easier on me, especially for Salamence, and gives me a great advantage if rocks are down on his side.
I gave Donphan a Lum Berry because I need a pokemon to take sleep's for the team (Donphan takes Thunderwave thanks to his typing, and Heracross takes Burn and Toxic and gets boosted thanks to Guts.) Not only does this help against the not nearly as common but still existant sleep leads, but also against the mid game sleepers like Breloom.
Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Spa / 252 Spe / 4 Hp
Nature: Naive
~Fire Blast
~Earth Power
~Hidden Power Ice
~Explosion
Despite having played on Shoddy for over a year now, this is my first team with Heatran, and I am very happy with the results. I just didn't like him, but I got over myself and realized that a Scarf Heatran would be awesome for this team, not only in soaking in the Fire attacks directed at Lucario/Heracross, but also at being a powerful check for many pokemon. His typing allows me many switch-ins, a quality I wanted in as many pokemon as possible on this team, due to the teams constant switching nature. Along with his ability to switch into many pokemon, his ability to stop scary threats such as other Heatran, Scizor, Salamence or other Dragons locked into Outrage, and his ability soaking up the Fire attacks that would otherwise threaten my team, Heatran is also strong enough to sweep! That is a trait I wanted everyone (besides Donphan) on the team to be capable of doing. Heatran can also act as my 'oh shit' button and explode on a threat that my team would otherwise have a lot of difficulty with. Some of these threats include, but are not limited to, Calm Mind Cresellia, Kingdra, and Gyarados (though the latter two have to not have DD's or be locked into Outrage).
Salamence @ Choice Specs
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Nature: Modest
~Draco Meteor
~Dragon Pulse
~Hydro Pump
~Fire Blast
Ol' Fire and Forget (fire and forget that it took no skill). Most people aren't ready for Specs Mence, as everyone just uses Latias instead. After I bring out Salamence, everyone brings out their typical DD/CB Mence counter expecting a DD or Outrage, only to find that they've lost most of their HP or are OHKO'd from a Draco Meteor or Hydro Pump. Specs Mence breaks holes in the opposing team early in the game, creating better opportunities towards the end of the game for Heracross and Lucario to sweep. Part of what makes Spec's Mence and the last few pokemon on my team so threatening is their unpredicability. I almost always nab at LEAST one kill with Salamence. Salamence is also (kind of) bulky, mostly thanks to resistances, and can switch into a lot of attacks and be mostly unhindered. Without Life Orb, he doesn't take a trumendous amount of damage, and what ends up taking the most of him is Stealth Rock (which I can hopefully remove early game with Donphan.) He fits another great role on this team; he is a great switch-in to many pokemon (intimidate is so useful), he brings an immediate threat to the opposing team, and he has the ability to sweep, though he mostly just makes it easier for everyone else.
Gengar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 atk
Nature: Mild
~Shadow Ball
~Thunderbolt
~Hidden Power Ice
~Explosion
Gengar is another unpredictable Pokemon in both move set and appeareance that can deal a lot of damage, and is threatening at any stage in the match. It seems people are just starting to catch on that Gengar has quietly snuck around and has become a large threat again, and a lot of teams are not ready to stop him. Gengar fits great on this team because a) SpecsGar is unpredicable and powerful, b) he is quite fast and can act great as an early game attacker or an end game finisher, and c) he is Ghost type and provides an immunity to Explosion, something I really wanted on this team. Gengar (and Salamence) also provide a much needed Ground immunity that would otherwise harm Lucario and Heatran. He also can block spins, though that situation is not nearly as common. I chose HP Ice over Focus Blast, as I have enough Physical type moves on this team thanks to Hera and Lucario. HP Ice llows me to kill non-Speed boosted Dragons. With HP Ice, I can also switch into a Gliscor out against Hera or Lucario predicting an Earthquake, and KO back with HP Ice (assuming they're not Rock Polish boosted). I choose Explosion over Trick/Focus Blast for the reasons mentioned above, and I'd rather KO a pokemon than make it useless, since there are no set-up pokemon on this team. Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt are standard for coverage.
Lucario @ Choice Specs
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Spa / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Nature: Modest
~Aura Sphere
~Vacuum Wave
~Shadow Ball
~Hidden Power Ice
SpecsLuke is a very dangrous and seldom seen pokemon due to SD Luke also being so powerful. However, SpecsLuke takes a lot of teams by surprise and can even 6-0 unprepared teams. The main reason Lucario is on this team is because he works so well with Heracross. Hera and Lucario share a lot of the same counters and initial switch-ins, so one of them weakens the counter for the other. I can generally rely on Lucario to finish sweeping late game if Heracross fails to do so, and vice versa. Vacuum wave is a great move once many pokemon are weakened, and is another awesome priority move I needed on this team. With Vacuum wave I also have a check against pokemon that get set-up, such as Empoleon. Thanks to Choice Specs, I do great damage even to Pokemon that resist it. Aura Sphere and Vacuum wave are really the only moves I use. HP Ice is there if I can predict a Gliscor switch in, or to provide EVEN MORE insurance over Dragons, such as Flygon (Lucario can come in on a Scarfed Flygon locked on outrage and OHKO back with HP Ice). While not 'bulky', Lucario has great resistances which can allow him to switch in and live long enough to attack back. He also only takes 3% damage from Stealth Rock, meaning I have at least one sweeper that can consistently switch in, since Hera, Heatran, and Gengar take decent damage, and Salamence takes great damage from SR.
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
~Close Combat
~Megahorn
~Stone Edge
~Night Slash
Why is this guy so low in usage?! Heracross works on this team as both a late game sweeper, a check to several pokemon, and a status absorber (for burn and poison, Donphan takes the other two.) Scarf Heracross can come in after a fainted pokemon and threaten a lot of todays more common pokemon, including (but not limited to), Latias, Celebi, Empoleon, Gyarados, Mamoswine, Non boosted Salamence, Rotom-A, non boosted Suicune, Starmie, Tyranitar, and Zapdos. Not only that, but Heracross can switch into Rotom-A (which IMO is everywhere), Dusknoir, and Blissey, and take their status, and threaten heavy damage or KO's with Night Slash or Close Combat respectively. Without Guts boost, Heracross can tear through weakened teams (usually with Close Combat and quite easily after Ghosts are dead.) With a Guts boost, he threatens KO's on pokemon even in good health, and thanks to his scarf can only be threatened by other Scarf Pokemon or priority moves. As mentioned earlier, he works great along side Lucario, and often the two cannot be stopped. Hera works best late game after Heatran, Salamence, and Gengar have done their job getting rid of Hera's problem pokemon, namely Gliscor, Gengar, and Scizor. Hera also does well against pokemon that other teams save for late game, often nabbing me the win over them, such as pokemon like Tyranitar, Infernape, Gyarados, and Rhyperior (whom I still outspeed even after a Rock Polish).
There you have it, that is my team. Please read it all before you rate/reply! I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did making it.
