Lolcat again. 'Nother RMT. I tried a few weeks ago to turn my 4th Gen team into a 5th gen team, and it failed. I was trapped in a Gen 4 mindset, and I knew I needed a completely different team for Gen 4.
Team Building Process
I realized that there are three kinds of normally successful teams in Generation 5:
-Sand Offense
-Rain Offense
-Sun Offense
Yep, as I see it, it's either Weather or Fail this gen. If you're not running weather, then you give your opponent the advantage of controlling the battle conditions and not even challenging the opponent's sweepers to set up. Rain just got seriously nerfed, so I decided to leave Rain alone, which left me to either run Sand or Sun. Seeing the risks and benefits of both (better starters vs. extra Fire STAB) to complement the sweepers, I chose Sun. Obviously, that leads me to my first Pokemon:
Ninetales @ Leftovers
Timid, 252 SpA, 4 SDef, 252 Spe, Drought
-Fire Blast
-Will-o-Wisp
-Energy Ball
-Hidden Power [Ground]
Ninetales is the obvious starter on my team. I lead with Ninetales if I am facing a non-weather team, even if I know my opponent will lead with Garchomp or something because starting the battle with Sun lets the other offensive powerhouses have the opportunity to attack as soon as possible. I often do not lead with Ninetales if the opponent reveals a Politoed, Hippowdon, or Tyranitar (well, maybe with Tyranitar because I can Will-o-Wisp it), but the point of Ninetales is to instantaneously shift the game's momentum in my favor by giving me immediate STAB boosts and cutting off the opponent's weather. Ninetales is using the offensive set (sans Life Orb for survivability) because I don't want him to be set up fodder and Hypnosis is inaccurate enough as it is. I already end up angry from the 37th Will-o-Miss in a row, so I want to refrain from Hypnosis. Energy Ball lets me pick off weakened Tyranitar, and HP Ground is for Heatran. Most of the time Fire Blast is the selected move because it gets double STAB which pretty much makes it unresisted because the double STAB makes up for a weakness, even if it's only off of a meager 260 Special Attack. When the Sun is up and the special walls are out against 'Tales, the physical attacking force takes the field:
Blaziken @ Life Orb
4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe, Adamant, Speed Boost
-Flare Blitz
-Hi Jump Kick
-Stone Edge
-Protect
Yeah, yeah, no Swords Dance. I've used SD Blaziken before. It's not that good. It's nearly impossible to get the first Speed Boost because it needs to survive an entire turn in order to boost. It has not the bulk to get off that boost, and it sure as hell doesn't have the ability to reliably get off that boost. However, Protect is easy to use and immediately gets this flaming chicken at 372 Attack and nearly 400 Speed. Only bulky waters can stop him, and most cannot take two Hi Jump Kicks or two Stone Edges in Jellicent's case. Blaziken usually kills himself from massive recoil before sweeping, but he takes some walls out, allowing a special sweeper to finish the job, namely the king of Sun himself,
Venusaur @ Life Orb
Modest, 4 HP 252 SpA, 252 Spe, Chlorophyll
-Growth
-Energy Ball
-Hidden Power [fire]
-Sludge Bomb
Venusaur starts the fight off with over 500 speed and amazing type coverage, but sadly walled by Heatran. I try to kill Heatran before bringing in the big guns. I try to force a switch with him, then use that opportunity to Grow. However, if the opponent's going to bring something that would prevent a sweep, I would just attack it. I use Growth only when I can secure a sweep. If the opponent has a Heatran, then I would only Grow if the Heatran's at 25% or less, as that's about how much a Growth boosted Energy Ball does to it. There's not much else to say here, it's a standard RapeuSaur. But one man cannot slay six, we need more sun smiting:
Ulgamoth @ Life Orb
Timid, 252 Spa, 4 Spd, 252 Spe. Flame Body
-Fire Blast
-Bug Buzz
-Butterfly Dance
-Hidden Power [Ground]
Offensive Rape Moth. With Butterfly Dancing, it's basically one and done. After one dance, Mothy can 2KO just about anything short of the Blissey family (sans Happiny, who dies to a light gust of wind). It usually comes out early game before the Stealth Rocks are down, as we know how much moths like Stealth Rocks... I only go for two dances or more if the opponent is a Bissey or Chansey, as they are both (maybe not Chansey IIRC) 2KOed by Fire Blast in the Sun. I play pretty liberally with KillMoth, as it normally can take down a pokemon or two easily. It does have problems with Rain, so we go to the Rain Check for that:
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
252 HP, 40 Def, 208 SDef, Sassy
-Leech Seed
-Spikes
-Power Whip
-Gyro Ball
Specially defensive Ferrothorn. Differentiates itself from SDef Skarmory and Forretress by actually being able to take a Special hit and not die. Can take unboosted HP Fires, and performs well against Rain, serving as a defensive pivot for pokemon like Politoed and Tornadus. This pokemon beats Tornadus one-on-one if it gets in safely and doesn't get confused. Also, it gets Spikes which every weather abuser is vulnerable to, so they will be under the clock to keep their weather up (though in most cases, so will I. Spikes just evens the field as little). Leech Seed is basically like reliable recovery because it heals so much all the time, and very few good pokemon are immune to it. However, it cannot take Sand hits, so we go to Mr. Sand Stopper for that:
Conkeldurr @ Leftovers
Brave, 120 HP, 252 Atk, 136 SDef, 0 IV Speed. Guts.
-Bulk Up
-Drain Punch
-Mach Punch
-Payback
Standard Bulk Up DurrPunch can stop Sand in its tracks, except for that pesky Landorus (though Payback hurts). It beats other PunchnDurrs in a Bulk Up war by being slower, which allows it to recover with Drain Punch last. It beats Doryuuzu, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, and other physical threats. It can only beat Gliscor with a Guts boost and one Bulk Up. This pokemon is the glue for my team, acting as setup sweeper, revenge killer, and weather check all in one. It does exactly what it looks like it does, and needs little explanation in my opinion
Closing:
This team has gotten me to the brink of voting rights before, but usually noobs and the RNG get there first. I once slid from top 90 to the 1700s (read: one thousand seven hundreds) after ten or twenty hax filled battles. It's been hovering in the top 90-120 recently, but I need to make the jump from okay battler to voting rights soon, and that's where this great forum comes in. I sincerely thank you for all of your help whether I permanently implement your changes or not.
All the best,
Lolcat.
P.S. Obligatory RMT-closing cat picture with a holiday flair
Team Building Process
I realized that there are three kinds of normally successful teams in Generation 5:
-Sand Offense
-Rain Offense
-Sun Offense
Yep, as I see it, it's either Weather or Fail this gen. If you're not running weather, then you give your opponent the advantage of controlling the battle conditions and not even challenging the opponent's sweepers to set up. Rain just got seriously nerfed, so I decided to leave Rain alone, which left me to either run Sand or Sun. Seeing the risks and benefits of both (better starters vs. extra Fire STAB) to complement the sweepers, I chose Sun. Obviously, that leads me to my first Pokemon:
Ninetales
...Controlling the tide of battle means controlling the heavens themselves...
...Controlling the tide of battle means controlling the heavens themselves...
Ninetales @ Leftovers
Timid, 252 SpA, 4 SDef, 252 Spe, Drought
-Fire Blast
-Will-o-Wisp
-Energy Ball
-Hidden Power [Ground]
Ninetales is the obvious starter on my team. I lead with Ninetales if I am facing a non-weather team, even if I know my opponent will lead with Garchomp or something because starting the battle with Sun lets the other offensive powerhouses have the opportunity to attack as soon as possible. I often do not lead with Ninetales if the opponent reveals a Politoed, Hippowdon, or Tyranitar (well, maybe with Tyranitar because I can Will-o-Wisp it), but the point of Ninetales is to instantaneously shift the game's momentum in my favor by giving me immediate STAB boosts and cutting off the opponent's weather. Ninetales is using the offensive set (sans Life Orb for survivability) because I don't want him to be set up fodder and Hypnosis is inaccurate enough as it is. I already end up angry from the 37th Will-o-Miss in a row, so I want to refrain from Hypnosis. Energy Ball lets me pick off weakened Tyranitar, and HP Ground is for Heatran. Most of the time Fire Blast is the selected move because it gets double STAB which pretty much makes it unresisted because the double STAB makes up for a weakness, even if it's only off of a meager 260 Special Attack. When the Sun is up and the special walls are out against 'Tales, the physical attacking force takes the field:
...The swift move first, the slowest, never...
Blaziken @ Life Orb
4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe, Adamant, Speed Boost
-Flare Blitz
-Hi Jump Kick
-Stone Edge
-Protect
Yeah, yeah, no Swords Dance. I've used SD Blaziken before. It's not that good. It's nearly impossible to get the first Speed Boost because it needs to survive an entire turn in order to boost. It has not the bulk to get off that boost, and it sure as hell doesn't have the ability to reliably get off that boost. However, Protect is easy to use and immediately gets this flaming chicken at 372 Attack and nearly 400 Speed. Only bulky waters can stop him, and most cannot take two Hi Jump Kicks or two Stone Edges in Jellicent's case. Blaziken usually kills himself from massive recoil before sweeping, but he takes some walls out, allowing a special sweeper to finish the job, namely the king of Sun himself,
...the braver general leads from the front lines, the smarter general preserves his life...
Venusaur @ Life Orb
Modest, 4 HP 252 SpA, 252 Spe, Chlorophyll
-Growth
-Energy Ball
-Hidden Power [fire]
-Sludge Bomb
Venusaur starts the fight off with over 500 speed and amazing type coverage, but sadly walled by Heatran. I try to kill Heatran before bringing in the big guns. I try to force a switch with him, then use that opportunity to Grow. However, if the opponent's going to bring something that would prevent a sweep, I would just attack it. I use Growth only when I can secure a sweep. If the opponent has a Heatran, then I would only Grow if the Heatran's at 25% or less, as that's about how much a Growth boosted Energy Ball does to it. There's not much else to say here, it's a standard RapeuSaur. But one man cannot slay six, we need more sun smiting:
...Any man can fight with power, few can fight with grace...
Ulgamoth @ Life Orb
Timid, 252 Spa, 4 Spd, 252 Spe. Flame Body
-Fire Blast
-Bug Buzz
-Butterfly Dance
-Hidden Power [Ground]
Offensive Rape Moth. With Butterfly Dancing, it's basically one and done. After one dance, Mothy can 2KO just about anything short of the Blissey family (sans Happiny, who dies to a light gust of wind). It usually comes out early game before the Stealth Rocks are down, as we know how much moths like Stealth Rocks... I only go for two dances or more if the opponent is a Bissey or Chansey, as they are both (maybe not Chansey IIRC) 2KOed by Fire Blast in the Sun. I play pretty liberally with KillMoth, as it normally can take down a pokemon or two easily. It does have problems with Rain, so we go to the Rain Check for that:
...The best offense is a good defense, and the best defense is a good offense...
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
252 HP, 40 Def, 208 SDef, Sassy
-Leech Seed
-Spikes
-Power Whip
-Gyro Ball
Specially defensive Ferrothorn. Differentiates itself from SDef Skarmory and Forretress by actually being able to take a Special hit and not die. Can take unboosted HP Fires, and performs well against Rain, serving as a defensive pivot for pokemon like Politoed and Tornadus. This pokemon beats Tornadus one-on-one if it gets in safely and doesn't get confused. Also, it gets Spikes which every weather abuser is vulnerable to, so they will be under the clock to keep their weather up (though in most cases, so will I. Spikes just evens the field as little). Leech Seed is basically like reliable recovery because it heals so much all the time, and very few good pokemon are immune to it. However, it cannot take Sand hits, so we go to Mr. Sand Stopper for that:
...Durr. Durr Hurr Hurr...
Conkeldurr @ Leftovers
Brave, 120 HP, 252 Atk, 136 SDef, 0 IV Speed. Guts.
-Bulk Up
-Drain Punch
-Mach Punch
-Payback
Standard Bulk Up DurrPunch can stop Sand in its tracks, except for that pesky Landorus (though Payback hurts). It beats other PunchnDurrs in a Bulk Up war by being slower, which allows it to recover with Drain Punch last. It beats Doryuuzu, Tyranitar, Hippowdon, and other physical threats. It can only beat Gliscor with a Guts boost and one Bulk Up. This pokemon is the glue for my team, acting as setup sweeper, revenge killer, and weather check all in one. It does exactly what it looks like it does, and needs little explanation in my opinion
Closing:
This team has gotten me to the brink of voting rights before, but usually noobs and the RNG get there first. I once slid from top 90 to the 1700s (read: one thousand seven hundreds) after ten or twenty hax filled battles. It's been hovering in the top 90-120 recently, but I need to make the jump from okay battler to voting rights soon, and that's where this great forum comes in. I sincerely thank you for all of your help whether I permanently implement your changes or not.
All the best,
Lolcat.
P.S. Obligatory RMT-closing cat picture with a holiday flair
