Before I list off the team members a short introduction and explanation. I'm a bit of an OCD player and I am always looking for ways to create teams that are a bit out of the box. As a challenge, and to satisfy my "OCDness", I set out to build a team using as many types as possible without repeating a type. Thus all Pokemon on this team have two types and you will not find the same type twice. Criticize the team as you see fit, but please don't ask me to replace a Pokemon with a Pokemon that will not fit my rainbow team mold. I’m looking to build a Wi-Fi team, and so far this team has been doing pretty good, but I’d like to run it by Smogon to see if anybody can see any glaring flaws.
And here it is:
Weavile (Dark/Ice)
The Bitter Cold
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
Evs: 4 Hp, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Nature: Hasty
~ Fake Out
~ Taunt
~ Counter
~ Ice Punch
I lead off with the Anti-Lead set Weavile. I was skeptical about this guy when I first drafted up my team. I was especially worried that if he would always be limited to the beginning of the game, and that I would be behind if he didn’t do his job. After using him, my fears went away. Despite having only ice punch as a reliable attack, he is incredibly versatile. His high speed, fake out, and taunts foil most suicide leads and even if I have to switch out first move he usually has one or more chances to be valuable later in the game. Sure, I do lose him sometimes to slow and sturdy leads like Swampert, but I’m quite fond of him as my lead.
Magnezone (Electric/Steel)
The Internal Storm
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
Evs: 4Hp, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Nature: Naïve
~Thunderbolt
~HP Ice
~Flash Cannon
~Explosion
It’s hard to say what Magnezone’s specific job is because this set makes it so diversely capable. Magnet pull traps in steels, especially Scizor who likes to haunt my Roserade. The scarf and its high special attack allow it to revenge kill many things and grants some insurance to my team which only has one taunt user against certain stat uppers. It’s attack is so good that sometimes he becomes a makeshift late-game sweeper. Explosion is there as sacrificial move to take out special walls my team might be struggling against
Salamence (Dragon/Flying)
Big Blue Sky
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Evs: 252 Hp, 180 Def, 76 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Roost
~Flamethrower
~Wish
~Draco Meteor
This is Fatmence in his natural home. His job is to take hits from EQ users who hound Magnezone, protect and draw out opportunities for Roserade, and otherwise just be a reliable Pokemon to absorb switches. Few people see the defensive potential in Salamence, but he can actually be an immensely sturdy Pokemon. His unpredictable move set usually causes players to switch out against him. One thing I’d like discussion on is whether to switch out wish with toxic. Wish was first appealing because it gave me the possibility to heal up my general attackers like Magnezone and Rhyperior who had no other way of regaining health, but I found it pretty hard to actually pull off. Toxic would allow me to win some important stall wars that my team suffers against.
Roserade (Grass/Poison)
Gaia’s Fury
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Natural Cure
Evs: 4 Hp, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Leaf Storm
~Sludge Bomb
~HP Fire
~Sleep Powder
My hit and run massive damage inducing little flower. Her job is quite simply to blow things apart with leaf storm. Despite her fragility and grass’s somewhat bad attacking type, my team allows her to be as ferocious as a Specsmence. Magnezone traps the steel types who love to wall her, and many of my Pokemon force a foreseeable switch to a Pokemon that she’s good against, like Swampert. Sleep powder can maim a counter who expects a free switch in, and is something that makes her unique when comparing her to many other choice specs users.
Starmie (Water/Psychic
Oceanic Mysticism
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Evs: 136 Hp, 156 Def, 216 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Rapid Spin
~Recover
~Surf
~Thunderbolt
When I first saw Smogon I was bewildered that Starmie was famed as a support Pokemon with modest defenses of 60/85/85. I thought they were out of their minds to consider her OU. I was naïve. Starmie is a wonderful Pokemon. On my team she is a rapid spinner to keep Fatmence healthy and works aside him as a switch absorber. She might not be a fearsome attacker, but she fits well on my team.
Rhyperior (Rock/Ground)
Tectonic Crusher
Item: Liechi Berry
Ability: Solid Rock
Evs: 4Hp, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
~Rock Polish
~Earthquake
~Megahorn
~Stone Edge
With so many special attackers I needed a pretty big Pokemon to fill the shoes of my team’s sole reliable physical attacker. He can either be an immediate threat to annoying blobs like Blissey or a decent late-game sweeper with Rock Polish. While he hits hard, he sometimes doesn’t hit hard enough, so I’ll be looking for alternative move sets or maybe even Pokemon with him.
My Opinion About the Team: So far this team has given me a fair few wins, and has not had any extremely embarrassing losses. I think the cynical critics will complain about two major things when looking at this team. One, that there’s not enough overall bulk in it to make the cut in standard OU battles. To them I argue that reliability of my switch absorbers and they synergy between the Pokemon goes some way to make up for this. The second major thing is that my focus on special attacks will run me into trouble the ridiculous special wall Blissey or any other good special wall. I acknowledge that special walls give me trouble, but I’m hard pressed to give up my special attacking focus. In a physically dominated metagame, having so many good special attackers allows me to dish out damage quickly without having to spend time upping stats.
I’m too lazy to do a threat list, plus this team operates a little difference than a normal team for one to be extremely beneficial. For example, I against Heatran I don’t have an instant counter, but I can switch to Salamence to absorb fire or earth power, I have Magnezone to trap and kill non-scarf damaged Trans, I have Starmie to damage with Surf, and Rhyperior who threatens an OHKO if they can’t OHKO back. It all depends on the condition the battle is in.
So that’s my team! Rip it apart, love it, hate it, just give me your two cents, I’d be happy to hear it.
And here it is:
Weavile (Dark/Ice)
The Bitter Cold
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
Evs: 4 Hp, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Nature: Hasty
~ Fake Out
~ Taunt
~ Counter
~ Ice Punch
I lead off with the Anti-Lead set Weavile. I was skeptical about this guy when I first drafted up my team. I was especially worried that if he would always be limited to the beginning of the game, and that I would be behind if he didn’t do his job. After using him, my fears went away. Despite having only ice punch as a reliable attack, he is incredibly versatile. His high speed, fake out, and taunts foil most suicide leads and even if I have to switch out first move he usually has one or more chances to be valuable later in the game. Sure, I do lose him sometimes to slow and sturdy leads like Swampert, but I’m quite fond of him as my lead.
Magnezone (Electric/Steel)
The Internal Storm
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
Evs: 4Hp, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Nature: Naïve
~Thunderbolt
~HP Ice
~Flash Cannon
~Explosion
It’s hard to say what Magnezone’s specific job is because this set makes it so diversely capable. Magnet pull traps in steels, especially Scizor who likes to haunt my Roserade. The scarf and its high special attack allow it to revenge kill many things and grants some insurance to my team which only has one taunt user against certain stat uppers. It’s attack is so good that sometimes he becomes a makeshift late-game sweeper. Explosion is there as sacrificial move to take out special walls my team might be struggling against
Salamence (Dragon/Flying)
Big Blue Sky
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Evs: 252 Hp, 180 Def, 76 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Roost
~Flamethrower
~Wish
~Draco Meteor
This is Fatmence in his natural home. His job is to take hits from EQ users who hound Magnezone, protect and draw out opportunities for Roserade, and otherwise just be a reliable Pokemon to absorb switches. Few people see the defensive potential in Salamence, but he can actually be an immensely sturdy Pokemon. His unpredictable move set usually causes players to switch out against him. One thing I’d like discussion on is whether to switch out wish with toxic. Wish was first appealing because it gave me the possibility to heal up my general attackers like Magnezone and Rhyperior who had no other way of regaining health, but I found it pretty hard to actually pull off. Toxic would allow me to win some important stall wars that my team suffers against.
Roserade (Grass/Poison)
Gaia’s Fury
Item: Choice Specs
Ability: Natural Cure
Evs: 4 Hp, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Leaf Storm
~Sludge Bomb
~HP Fire
~Sleep Powder
My hit and run massive damage inducing little flower. Her job is quite simply to blow things apart with leaf storm. Despite her fragility and grass’s somewhat bad attacking type, my team allows her to be as ferocious as a Specsmence. Magnezone traps the steel types who love to wall her, and many of my Pokemon force a foreseeable switch to a Pokemon that she’s good against, like Swampert. Sleep powder can maim a counter who expects a free switch in, and is something that makes her unique when comparing her to many other choice specs users.
Starmie (Water/Psychic
Oceanic Mysticism
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Evs: 136 Hp, 156 Def, 216 Spe
Nature: Timid
~Rapid Spin
~Recover
~Surf
~Thunderbolt
When I first saw Smogon I was bewildered that Starmie was famed as a support Pokemon with modest defenses of 60/85/85. I thought they were out of their minds to consider her OU. I was naïve. Starmie is a wonderful Pokemon. On my team she is a rapid spinner to keep Fatmence healthy and works aside him as a switch absorber. She might not be a fearsome attacker, but she fits well on my team.
Rhyperior (Rock/Ground)
Tectonic Crusher
Item: Liechi Berry
Ability: Solid Rock
Evs: 4Hp, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
~Rock Polish
~Earthquake
~Megahorn
~Stone Edge
With so many special attackers I needed a pretty big Pokemon to fill the shoes of my team’s sole reliable physical attacker. He can either be an immediate threat to annoying blobs like Blissey or a decent late-game sweeper with Rock Polish. While he hits hard, he sometimes doesn’t hit hard enough, so I’ll be looking for alternative move sets or maybe even Pokemon with him.
My Opinion About the Team: So far this team has given me a fair few wins, and has not had any extremely embarrassing losses. I think the cynical critics will complain about two major things when looking at this team. One, that there’s not enough overall bulk in it to make the cut in standard OU battles. To them I argue that reliability of my switch absorbers and they synergy between the Pokemon goes some way to make up for this. The second major thing is that my focus on special attacks will run me into trouble the ridiculous special wall Blissey or any other good special wall. I acknowledge that special walls give me trouble, but I’m hard pressed to give up my special attacking focus. In a physically dominated metagame, having so many good special attackers allows me to dish out damage quickly without having to spend time upping stats.
I’m too lazy to do a threat list, plus this team operates a little difference than a normal team for one to be extremely beneficial. For example, I against Heatran I don’t have an instant counter, but I can switch to Salamence to absorb fire or earth power, I have Magnezone to trap and kill non-scarf damaged Trans, I have Starmie to damage with Surf, and Rhyperior who threatens an OHKO if they can’t OHKO back. It all depends on the condition the battle is in.
So that’s my team! Rip it apart, love it, hate it, just give me your two cents, I’d be happy to hear it.
