Team Manly Pink
Introduction
Hey guys! This is my very first RMT here on Smogon (Please be gentle!). I've tried out a lot of different VGC Teams and never had any luck. I then tried a sand team with a lot of commonly used Pokemon like Tyranitar, Garchomp, etc. and that seemed to fit my playstyle the best, however, I still wasn't getting the consistent wins that I wanted. I realized that the key to winning would be to use viable but uncommon Pokemon. Enter this team. The name comes from the fact that most of the Pokemon are Red and Pink. I've only been able to use this team on the GBU, Skarmbliss server and Spring Friendly and I've won a majority of my matches in each. Unfortunately, due to money/work, I won't be able to attend Nationals with this team, but I would have loved to see how far I could have gotten with it.
Team at a Glance
Hey guys! This is my very first RMT here on Smogon (Please be gentle!). I've tried out a lot of different VGC Teams and never had any luck. I then tried a sand team with a lot of commonly used Pokemon like Tyranitar, Garchomp, etc. and that seemed to fit my playstyle the best, however, I still wasn't getting the consistent wins that I wanted. I realized that the key to winning would be to use viable but uncommon Pokemon. Enter this team. The name comes from the fact that most of the Pokemon are Red and Pink. I've only been able to use this team on the GBU, Skarmbliss server and Spring Friendly and I've won a majority of my matches in each. Unfortunately, due to money/work, I won't be able to attend Nationals with this team, but I would have loved to see how far I could have gotten with it.
Team at a Glance
In-depth Analysis
Hippowdon (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Crunch
- Protect
I really love this thing now. I actually prefer it over Tyranitar because it doesn't have a glaring weakness to fighting. It can't take Draco Meteors or other monstrous Special Attacks, but it does shrug off multiple physical hits. The moves are kind of standard but they offer the best coverage.
Cresselia (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 84 SAtk / 172 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Trick Room
- Rest
Ah, Restochesto Cresselia! Just when you think it's almost knocked out, she rests up and is ready for another 3-4 rounds of battle. The 84 Satk EVs allow me to 2HKO stuff like Hitmontop with Psychic and whatnot. Ice Beam is to help with Dragons. Trick Room greatly supports my team since a lot of them are naturally slow. Trick Room also helps me counter the goodstuffs teams with Tailwind support and other Trick Room teams.
Scizor (M) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Acrobatics
- Protect
I think Bug is such a rogue type in the VGCs. It hits so many common Pokemon for Super-effective damage. With Trick Room support, Scizor can wreck Latios and Ludicolo, both major threats to my team. Bullet Punch gives me some great priority to pick off weakened Pokes. Acrobatics with a flight gem wrecks most fighting types even if Scizor is hit with an intimidate. I opted for Flight Gem over Occa berry because Scizor has trouble taking most Fire moves even with the Occa berry so it seemed kind of pointless.
Heatran (M) @ Shuca Berry
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Protect
So this originally was a physically defensive Latias, but that gave me a weakness to Scizors/other Steels and Hail Teams and I rarely used her to begin with. I recently decided to drop Latias for Heatran and I haven't regretted the decision yet. Sure, I have three Pokemon weak to water in a tier where Rain teams are pretty common, but Heatran allows me to counter so much more than before. I think the only uncommon thing is Hidden Power Grass which helps me hit Gastrodon and Rotom-W for Super Effective damage.
p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; } Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Drill Run
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
- Protect
Such a cool looking Pokemon. One of the main reasons I wanted to make a sand team. He's the main sweeper of my team and does it pretty efficiently. Haha, I remember in one match my opponent annihilated my three other Pokemon and Excadrill came back and swept all four of his Pokemon by himself. I chose Drill Run over Earthquake because it technically has higher base power in doubles and Cresselia is my only Pokemon that is immune to Earthquake and she is normally dead by the time Excadrill comes out. Everything else on him seems pretty standard.
Gastrodon (F) @ Rindo Berry
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Muddy Water
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Recover
So, I have a lot of Pokemon that lure in water-type moves and Gastrodon loves to eat them up. With Trick Room support this thing is a monster special attacker. I really don't understand why this Pokemon isn't used more. I opted for Bold Nature over Calm just because I saw more physical pokes than special.
How it deals with common teams
Rain:
Rain, for the most part, is easily predictable. I normally go into Hippowdon, Gastrodon, Scizor and Cresselia. Hippowdon is normally slower than most Politoads so I can normally get my sand up if they decided to lead with it. Trick Room messes with Swift Swim if I lose the weather war and Gastrodon lures in the water attacks they like to spam. Ludicolo is probably the biggest threat to the team if Scizor fails to get rid of it.
Sun:
This matchup makes me a bit nervous. I haven't faced many of these and Volcarona scares the crap out of me. I would probably do Hippowdon, Heatran, Gastrodon/Cresselia and Excadrill.
Sand:
I think my team does pretty well in the mirror match. Hippowdon, Cresselia, Gastrodon and maybe Scizor can take on a majority of what they normally carry and Trick Room support eliminates their speed advantage.
Hail:
These aren't too common or really that great. I do have one thing to say: Screw you Mamoswine. Seriously, that thing is good in VGCs. Most things that resist EQ are weak to Ice and Mamoswine conveniently carries both of those as STABs. Heatran and Scizor wreck most of the things they carry though.
Trick Room:
There are so many viable pokemon that can be used on a dedicated Trick Room team that it is a bit difficult finding a sure-fire strategy. My Pokemon aren't as slow as Trick Room pokemon, so I'll be outsped. I don't really have too much trouble with the match up because Cresselia can always reverse it.
Goodstuffs:
Again, so many viable Pokemon can be used here. I would have to just use Pokemon that counter a majority of theirs. Trick Room support greatly aids me in this match up since most of the time they use Tail Wind.
Conclusion
Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the team so far. I really would like a 2nd pair of eyes to look over the team and search for any glaring weaknesses. Anyways, any and all feedback is accepted. Just be kind. :D
Hippowdon (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Crunch
- Protect
I really love this thing now. I actually prefer it over Tyranitar because it doesn't have a glaring weakness to fighting. It can't take Draco Meteors or other monstrous Special Attacks, but it does shrug off multiple physical hits. The moves are kind of standard but they offer the best coverage.
Cresselia (F) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 84 SAtk / 172 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Trick Room
- Rest
Ah, Restochesto Cresselia! Just when you think it's almost knocked out, she rests up and is ready for another 3-4 rounds of battle. The 84 Satk EVs allow me to 2HKO stuff like Hitmontop with Psychic and whatnot. Ice Beam is to help with Dragons. Trick Room greatly supports my team since a lot of them are naturally slow. Trick Room also helps me counter the goodstuffs teams with Tailwind support and other Trick Room teams.
Scizor (M) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Acrobatics
- Protect
I think Bug is such a rogue type in the VGCs. It hits so many common Pokemon for Super-effective damage. With Trick Room support, Scizor can wreck Latios and Ludicolo, both major threats to my team. Bullet Punch gives me some great priority to pick off weakened Pokes. Acrobatics with a flight gem wrecks most fighting types even if Scizor is hit with an intimidate. I opted for Flight Gem over Occa berry because Scizor has trouble taking most Fire moves even with the Occa berry so it seemed kind of pointless.
Heatran (M) @ Shuca Berry
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Protect
So this originally was a physically defensive Latias, but that gave me a weakness to Scizors/other Steels and Hail Teams and I rarely used her to begin with. I recently decided to drop Latias for Heatran and I haven't regretted the decision yet. Sure, I have three Pokemon weak to water in a tier where Rain teams are pretty common, but Heatran allows me to counter so much more than before. I think the only uncommon thing is Hidden Power Grass which helps me hit Gastrodon and Rotom-W for Super Effective damage.
p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; } Excadrill (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Drill Run
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
- Protect
Such a cool looking Pokemon. One of the main reasons I wanted to make a sand team. He's the main sweeper of my team and does it pretty efficiently. Haha, I remember in one match my opponent annihilated my three other Pokemon and Excadrill came back and swept all four of his Pokemon by himself. I chose Drill Run over Earthquake because it technically has higher base power in doubles and Cresselia is my only Pokemon that is immune to Earthquake and she is normally dead by the time Excadrill comes out. Everything else on him seems pretty standard.
Gastrodon (F) @ Rindo Berry
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Muddy Water
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Recover
So, I have a lot of Pokemon that lure in water-type moves and Gastrodon loves to eat them up. With Trick Room support this thing is a monster special attacker. I really don't understand why this Pokemon isn't used more. I opted for Bold Nature over Calm just because I saw more physical pokes than special.
How it deals with common teams
Rain:
Rain, for the most part, is easily predictable. I normally go into Hippowdon, Gastrodon, Scizor and Cresselia. Hippowdon is normally slower than most Politoads so I can normally get my sand up if they decided to lead with it. Trick Room messes with Swift Swim if I lose the weather war and Gastrodon lures in the water attacks they like to spam. Ludicolo is probably the biggest threat to the team if Scizor fails to get rid of it.
Sun:
This matchup makes me a bit nervous. I haven't faced many of these and Volcarona scares the crap out of me. I would probably do Hippowdon, Heatran, Gastrodon/Cresselia and Excadrill.
Sand:
I think my team does pretty well in the mirror match. Hippowdon, Cresselia, Gastrodon and maybe Scizor can take on a majority of what they normally carry and Trick Room support eliminates their speed advantage.
Hail:
These aren't too common or really that great. I do have one thing to say: Screw you Mamoswine. Seriously, that thing is good in VGCs. Most things that resist EQ are weak to Ice and Mamoswine conveniently carries both of those as STABs. Heatran and Scizor wreck most of the things they carry though.
Trick Room:
There are so many viable pokemon that can be used on a dedicated Trick Room team that it is a bit difficult finding a sure-fire strategy. My Pokemon aren't as slow as Trick Room pokemon, so I'll be outsped. I don't really have too much trouble with the match up because Cresselia can always reverse it.
Goodstuffs:
Again, so many viable Pokemon can be used here. I would have to just use Pokemon that counter a majority of theirs. Trick Room support greatly aids me in this match up since most of the time they use Tail Wind.
Conclusion
Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the team so far. I really would like a 2nd pair of eyes to look over the team and search for any glaring weaknesses. Anyways, any and all feedback is accepted. Just be kind. :D
