A Higgs Boson walks into a church and the priest says to him "Sorry, we don't allow your kind in here". To which the Higgs Boson replies "But without me, how can you have mass?" xD
...Ok, fine. I'll get on with the team then.
Introduction
With the introduction of B2/W2, a lot of new toys were introduced. Whilst every man and his dog seems to be suiting up their rain team with ThunderBro-T, TornadoBro-T and Keldeo, I figured I'd take a different approach. With the discovery of the Higgs Boson and the new round of move tutors upon us, now seems like the best time to build a Gravity team. With the new slew of threats running around the metagame, defensive gravity teams just didn't seem like the way to go. So I figured I'd have a go at building an offensive take on possibly the most under-utilized field effect so far.
In Depth
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
252 HP / 88 Def / 168 Sp.def
Relaxed Nature
Iron Barbs
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Gravity
Whilst Ferrothorn did have access to gravity before the tutors, it was illegal with spikes, the main reason to use Ferrothorn in the first place. Luckily, the new move tutors solved a lot if its legality issues. Ferrothorn is a great user of gravity, as it is able to force multiple switches throughout the game, giving it plenty of free turns to set up. It also provides me with a solid Dragon-type and Water-type resist, meaning he can set up all over bulky waters and outraging dragons that plague the metagame. Spikes is an obvious inclusion as it racks up the residual damage and in Gravity, it can be lethal. Gyro Ball was chosen as the sole attacking move, allowing me to hit many pokes for decent damage with Ferros almost non-existent speed. I was originally using Power Whip over Leech Seed to hit Jellicent, but I felt that Ferro is a poke that is too crucial to lose, so the more recovery the better.
The one downside to Ferrothorn is that he is pretty much vital to the teams success, depending on how many layers of Spikes I can lay. This means that burns from Scald really hamper him and any crits or freezes that are thrown his way usually spell doom. Also I have to treat him like he's made of glass. If I even get a whiff that they may be packing HP Fire / Fire Blast I won't risk setting down another layer of Spikes or setting up gravity, which can make Ferros job that little bit harder.
Landorus-T @ Leftovers
200 HP / 64 Atk / 224 Def
Adamant Nature
Intimidate
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Gravity
- U-turn
Ok, so let's take a pokemon with good defensive typing, a Ground STAB, Intimidate and decent speed, then give him a move that makes his STAB move super-effective against his so called "counters". That's Landy-T for you. Gravity is an amazing move for Landorus-T, even making Stone Edge a viable move for 5 turns. Coming off of a base 145 attack is ridiculous, as it can put massive dents in Skarmory and Rotom-W who think they're safe. Stone Edge is a pretty vital move too. In gravity it becomes 100% accurate and also, with the gives attack EVs is pretty much guaranteed to KO Dragonite after Stealth Rocks. U-turn is pretty much filler, I sometimes use it early game if I don't have any hazards up yet, but it's team dependent really. The EVs are stolen straight from Pocket's suggestion for the Landorus-T analysis, as it allows Landorus-T to survive 2 rounds of CB terrakion's Stone edge, as well as allowing me to abuse Intimidate to it's fullest.
Landorus forms a nice gravity core with Ferrothorn, as they both cover each others weaknesses nicely, meaning I can usually keep gravity up for the majority of the game. However, he suffers from much the same problems as Ferrothorn, where losing a gravity user to a mispredict or random hax can be very detrimental, and with a lot of new pokes getting Ice Punch, this can sometimes be a problem.
Tyranitar @ Tanga Berry
252 HP / 16 Sp.atk / 240 Sp.def
Sassy Nature
Sand Stream
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
As this is an offensive Gravity team, why not maximize the amount of residual damage I can cause? Enter Tyranitar. Sandstorm does a great job of further wearing down walls and limiting the lifespan of Life Orb users. Tyranitar is also an excellent Stealth Rock user, as he not only forces plenty of switches to set them up, but any Magic Guard users would have to have balls of steel to switch into Tyranitar directly. Crunch is chosen as the STAB of choice, allowing me to do solid damage to threats such as Reuniclus, Jellicent and the Lati twins. Fire Blast lets Tyranitar 2hko Ferrothron and Skarm, limiting their chances of setting up further which is pretty important since gravity can be a double-edged sword. Finally, I was running EQ in the final slot to further abuse gravity, but found that Hydreigon was a big problem, so I figured having a move to hit him for super effective damage would help.
Tyranitar has been working pretty well, doing what he does pretty reliably. With the new genies running around, keeping sand up is all the more important. Sometimes he's the first to go down on the team, mainly because losing the other members detracts from the teams overall performance so much more. Even if it means losing the weather war, the team can still function without its weather of choice.
Custom set, as any attempt to patch the Volc weakness just opened up new ones. So now Ttar lives a +1 Bug Buzz and can KO with Rock Slide, even without Stealth Rock. Ice Beam over Flamethrower was probably something I should've changed a while ago. I already had a decent Skarmory lure, so hitting Gliscor and Landorus it a better option, also still gives me a super-effective coverage against Hydreigon.
Starmie @ Leftovers
252 HP / 24 Def / 8 Sp.Atk / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
Nature Cure
- Hydro Pump
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
Starmie is pretty boss. She provides the team with a secondary Water-type and Ice-type resist, taking some of the heat off of Ferrothorn and provides spin support, which is vital as spikes or toxic spikes on my side of the field are a massive pain. She also checks a number of key threats running around at the moment, such as Keldeo. The EVs are to outspeed base 111 speed pokemon (stupid Tornadus and your dumb speed tier), then max HP is to take hits better. 24 Def EVs also let me take hits a little better and the final 8 Sp.Atk EVs allow Starmie to 2hko CB Scizor with Hydro Pump after Stealth Rock, which is pretty important so she can continue spinning. Psyshock was chosen over other coverage moves as it provided decent neutral coverage against threats as well as hitting Keldeo, Terrakion and Breloom for super effective damage. Thunder and Blizzard were considered for extra damage, but outside of gravity these are horribly unreliable. Rapid Spin and Recover are pretty self explanitory, allowing me to keep hazards off of the field for the majority of the game.
Starmie fits into the team pretty well, providing decent support as well as having the ability to hit a lot of pokes for decent damage. However, the loss of her attacking capabilities is missed, as sometimes she lacks the power to KO particular threats to the team with neutral hits. But overall, she's been an efficient spinner for the team.
Sableye @ Leftovers
252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Sp.def
Careful Nature
Prankster
- Night Shade
- Taunt
- Recover
- Gravity
Sableye is the teams spinblocker and guess what? He got Gravity too. This pretty much meant he was a shoe in for the team, as blocking spin, breaking down stall and providing gravity support was too much to pass up on. Will-o-wisp is the status of choice, crippling physical attackers such as Salamence, Dragonite and Terrakion, even becoming 100% accurate under gravity. Taunt and Recover are the two moves that allow Sableye to wear down pokes so easily, preventing them from healing whilst keeping himself healthy. Gravity is the whole point of the team, so of course I was going to use that. the EVs are to balance out his defenses, allowing him to take some decent hits on both sides of the spectrum.
Whilst Sableye does some of his jobs well, he can be a little underwhelming at times. Whilst his decent typing allows him to hard counter Magic Guard users such as Alakazam and Reuniclus, the lack of an attacking move means all he can really do it Taunt them, set up Gravity and hope to get either Tyranitar or Heracross in safely on a resisted Shadow Ball. Also, he lacks the defenses to stand up to strong rapid spinners such as Starmie and Tentacruel (if in rain), meaning keeping my hazards up can be an issue. If only I could run a 5th move, then he would be perfect, but Sableye will just have to stick to being decent.
Night Shade over W-o-w mainly so I can hit the two Magic guard pokes for some damage, rather than just forcing a stalemate. Also I can wear down Conkledurr now without activating its Guts, which is always a plus
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Moxie
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Night Slash
Browsing through the new OU analyses, I came across this little gem. Heracross seems almost hand-made for this team. He resists Ground-type attack whilst under gravity, has a powerful but inaccurate STAB move to abuse under gravity and annihilates both Alakazam and Reuniclus, which is pretty important for a team that relies on hazards. The fact that he recently got Moxie was just the icing on the cake, as he could act as my late game sweeper. Close Combat and Megahorn are pretty obvious inclusions, doing massive damage to anything that doesn't resist them. Stone edge is saved for the pokes that do resist his STABs, leaving only Landorus and Gliscor truly safe from Heracross' coverage. Finally, I'm torn between Night Slash and Sleep Talk. Whilst hitting Jellicent / Gengar is nice, I very rarely find myself using it, as locking myself into a Dark-type attack is basically a freebie to any of the crowd of fighting types to switch in and set up. Whereas Sleep talk at least gives me a semi-reliable answer to Techniloom (although 5x Bullet Seed still hurts). Sleep Talk also has pretty bad synergy with moxie, as even if i can get a kill whilst I'm asleep, I can't make use of the +1 attack anyway.
Heracross has done really well for the team, often pulling wins out of nowhere once all of his checks and counters have been removed. Locking into CC can be a problem, as whilst it is Heracross' most reliable STAB, it leaves him very vulnerable to being revenged by priority. Even Techniloom's resisted Mach Punch does about 50% at -1 Def, so use it with caution.
Settled on Night Slash, being able to hit Jellicent and Gengar for some decent damage means that Starmies role becomes a lot simpler, also means I can still hit psychic types pretty hard outside of gravity without relying on Megahorns shacky accuracy
Conclusion
So there we have it. My attempt at an offensive Gravity team. I haven't managed to get it to any impressive ratings yet, mainly because I'm still looking to tweak the team, but so far main threats to the team appear to be:
Volcarona - Tanga Berry Tyranitar, who woulda thunk it?
Tornadus-T - If it's in rain it's a 50/50 between Hurricane vs Superpower, the one upside is with gravity active, it can't really abuse Regenerator too much.
There are probably a whole bunch of other threats I'm missing, but those are the main two that I've noticed. Anyway, hope you've enjoyed the team (and the awful joke) and any comments or suggestions would be greatly welcomed.
Peace out~
...Ok, fine. I'll get on with the team then.
Introduction
With the introduction of B2/W2, a lot of new toys were introduced. Whilst every man and his dog seems to be suiting up their rain team with ThunderBro-T, TornadoBro-T and Keldeo, I figured I'd take a different approach. With the discovery of the Higgs Boson and the new round of move tutors upon us, now seems like the best time to build a Gravity team. With the new slew of threats running around the metagame, defensive gravity teams just didn't seem like the way to go. So I figured I'd have a go at building an offensive take on possibly the most under-utilized field effect so far.
In Depth
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
252 HP / 88 Def / 168 Sp.def
Relaxed Nature
Iron Barbs
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Gravity
Whilst Ferrothorn did have access to gravity before the tutors, it was illegal with spikes, the main reason to use Ferrothorn in the first place. Luckily, the new move tutors solved a lot if its legality issues. Ferrothorn is a great user of gravity, as it is able to force multiple switches throughout the game, giving it plenty of free turns to set up. It also provides me with a solid Dragon-type and Water-type resist, meaning he can set up all over bulky waters and outraging dragons that plague the metagame. Spikes is an obvious inclusion as it racks up the residual damage and in Gravity, it can be lethal. Gyro Ball was chosen as the sole attacking move, allowing me to hit many pokes for decent damage with Ferros almost non-existent speed. I was originally using Power Whip over Leech Seed to hit Jellicent, but I felt that Ferro is a poke that is too crucial to lose, so the more recovery the better.
The one downside to Ferrothorn is that he is pretty much vital to the teams success, depending on how many layers of Spikes I can lay. This means that burns from Scald really hamper him and any crits or freezes that are thrown his way usually spell doom. Also I have to treat him like he's made of glass. If I even get a whiff that they may be packing HP Fire / Fire Blast I won't risk setting down another layer of Spikes or setting up gravity, which can make Ferros job that little bit harder.
Landorus-T @ Leftovers
200 HP / 64 Atk / 224 Def
Adamant Nature
Intimidate
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Gravity
- U-turn
Ok, so let's take a pokemon with good defensive typing, a Ground STAB, Intimidate and decent speed, then give him a move that makes his STAB move super-effective against his so called "counters". That's Landy-T for you. Gravity is an amazing move for Landorus-T, even making Stone Edge a viable move for 5 turns. Coming off of a base 145 attack is ridiculous, as it can put massive dents in Skarmory and Rotom-W who think they're safe. Stone Edge is a pretty vital move too. In gravity it becomes 100% accurate and also, with the gives attack EVs is pretty much guaranteed to KO Dragonite after Stealth Rocks. U-turn is pretty much filler, I sometimes use it early game if I don't have any hazards up yet, but it's team dependent really. The EVs are stolen straight from Pocket's suggestion for the Landorus-T analysis, as it allows Landorus-T to survive 2 rounds of CB terrakion's Stone edge, as well as allowing me to abuse Intimidate to it's fullest.
Landorus forms a nice gravity core with Ferrothorn, as they both cover each others weaknesses nicely, meaning I can usually keep gravity up for the majority of the game. However, he suffers from much the same problems as Ferrothorn, where losing a gravity user to a mispredict or random hax can be very detrimental, and with a lot of new pokes getting Ice Punch, this can sometimes be a problem.
Tyranitar @ Tanga Berry
252 HP / 16 Sp.atk / 240 Sp.def
Sassy Nature
Sand Stream
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
As this is an offensive Gravity team, why not maximize the amount of residual damage I can cause? Enter Tyranitar. Sandstorm does a great job of further wearing down walls and limiting the lifespan of Life Orb users. Tyranitar is also an excellent Stealth Rock user, as he not only forces plenty of switches to set them up, but any Magic Guard users would have to have balls of steel to switch into Tyranitar directly. Crunch is chosen as the STAB of choice, allowing me to do solid damage to threats such as Reuniclus, Jellicent and the Lati twins. Fire Blast lets Tyranitar 2hko Ferrothron and Skarm, limiting their chances of setting up further which is pretty important since gravity can be a double-edged sword. Finally, I was running EQ in the final slot to further abuse gravity, but found that Hydreigon was a big problem, so I figured having a move to hit him for super effective damage would help.
Tyranitar has been working pretty well, doing what he does pretty reliably. With the new genies running around, keeping sand up is all the more important. Sometimes he's the first to go down on the team, mainly because losing the other members detracts from the teams overall performance so much more. Even if it means losing the weather war, the team can still function without its weather of choice.
Custom set, as any attempt to patch the Volc weakness just opened up new ones. So now Ttar lives a +1 Bug Buzz and can KO with Rock Slide, even without Stealth Rock. Ice Beam over Flamethrower was probably something I should've changed a while ago. I already had a decent Skarmory lure, so hitting Gliscor and Landorus it a better option, also still gives me a super-effective coverage against Hydreigon.
Starmie @ Leftovers
252 HP / 24 Def / 8 Sp.Atk / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
Nature Cure
- Hydro Pump
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
Starmie is pretty boss. She provides the team with a secondary Water-type and Ice-type resist, taking some of the heat off of Ferrothorn and provides spin support, which is vital as spikes or toxic spikes on my side of the field are a massive pain. She also checks a number of key threats running around at the moment, such as Keldeo. The EVs are to outspeed base 111 speed pokemon (stupid Tornadus and your dumb speed tier), then max HP is to take hits better. 24 Def EVs also let me take hits a little better and the final 8 Sp.Atk EVs allow Starmie to 2hko CB Scizor with Hydro Pump after Stealth Rock, which is pretty important so she can continue spinning. Psyshock was chosen over other coverage moves as it provided decent neutral coverage against threats as well as hitting Keldeo, Terrakion and Breloom for super effective damage. Thunder and Blizzard were considered for extra damage, but outside of gravity these are horribly unreliable. Rapid Spin and Recover are pretty self explanitory, allowing me to keep hazards off of the field for the majority of the game.
Starmie fits into the team pretty well, providing decent support as well as having the ability to hit a lot of pokes for decent damage. However, the loss of her attacking capabilities is missed, as sometimes she lacks the power to KO particular threats to the team with neutral hits. But overall, she's been an efficient spinner for the team.
Sableye @ Leftovers
252 HP / 120 Def / 136 Sp.def
Careful Nature
Prankster
- Night Shade
- Taunt
- Recover
- Gravity
Sableye is the teams spinblocker and guess what? He got Gravity too. This pretty much meant he was a shoe in for the team, as blocking spin, breaking down stall and providing gravity support was too much to pass up on. Will-o-wisp is the status of choice, crippling physical attackers such as Salamence, Dragonite and Terrakion, even becoming 100% accurate under gravity. Taunt and Recover are the two moves that allow Sableye to wear down pokes so easily, preventing them from healing whilst keeping himself healthy. Gravity is the whole point of the team, so of course I was going to use that. the EVs are to balance out his defenses, allowing him to take some decent hits on both sides of the spectrum.
Whilst Sableye does some of his jobs well, he can be a little underwhelming at times. Whilst his decent typing allows him to hard counter Magic Guard users such as Alakazam and Reuniclus, the lack of an attacking move means all he can really do it Taunt them, set up Gravity and hope to get either Tyranitar or Heracross in safely on a resisted Shadow Ball. Also, he lacks the defenses to stand up to strong rapid spinners such as Starmie and Tentacruel (if in rain), meaning keeping my hazards up can be an issue. If only I could run a 5th move, then he would be perfect, but Sableye will just have to stick to being decent.
Night Shade over W-o-w mainly so I can hit the two Magic guard pokes for some damage, rather than just forcing a stalemate. Also I can wear down Conkledurr now without activating its Guts, which is always a plus
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Moxie
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Night Slash
Browsing through the new OU analyses, I came across this little gem. Heracross seems almost hand-made for this team. He resists Ground-type attack whilst under gravity, has a powerful but inaccurate STAB move to abuse under gravity and annihilates both Alakazam and Reuniclus, which is pretty important for a team that relies on hazards. The fact that he recently got Moxie was just the icing on the cake, as he could act as my late game sweeper. Close Combat and Megahorn are pretty obvious inclusions, doing massive damage to anything that doesn't resist them. Stone edge is saved for the pokes that do resist his STABs, leaving only Landorus and Gliscor truly safe from Heracross' coverage. Finally, I'm torn between Night Slash and Sleep Talk. Whilst hitting Jellicent / Gengar is nice, I very rarely find myself using it, as locking myself into a Dark-type attack is basically a freebie to any of the crowd of fighting types to switch in and set up. Whereas Sleep talk at least gives me a semi-reliable answer to Techniloom (although 5x Bullet Seed still hurts). Sleep Talk also has pretty bad synergy with moxie, as even if i can get a kill whilst I'm asleep, I can't make use of the +1 attack anyway.
Heracross has done really well for the team, often pulling wins out of nowhere once all of his checks and counters have been removed. Locking into CC can be a problem, as whilst it is Heracross' most reliable STAB, it leaves him very vulnerable to being revenged by priority. Even Techniloom's resisted Mach Punch does about 50% at -1 Def, so use it with caution.
Settled on Night Slash, being able to hit Jellicent and Gengar for some decent damage means that Starmies role becomes a lot simpler, also means I can still hit psychic types pretty hard outside of gravity without relying on Megahorns shacky accuracy
Conclusion
So there we have it. My attempt at an offensive Gravity team. I haven't managed to get it to any impressive ratings yet, mainly because I'm still looking to tweak the team, but so far main threats to the team appear to be:
Volcarona - Tanga Berry Tyranitar, who woulda thunk it?
Tornadus-T - If it's in rain it's a 50/50 between Hurricane vs Superpower, the one upside is with gravity active, it can't really abuse Regenerator too much.
There are probably a whole bunch of other threats I'm missing, but those are the main two that I've noticed. Anyway, hope you've enjoyed the team (and the awful joke) and any comments or suggestions would be greatly welcomed.
Peace out~
