I have here a fairly straightforward offensively-oriented team, designed to quickly rip apart enemy defenses and go for a win. This idea mandates that my primary mid-game attackers shouldn't be any kind of set-up sweeper; while I still feature strong set-up moves on the team, they are rarely brought in until fairly late to perform cleanup. To start things off, here's the team at a glance:
The attacking core of the team is formed by Metagross and Latios, who together wield ferocious power that can walk over essentially any wall. I rely on them to deal damage for the majority of a match, as they're often capable of severely damaging even things that resist their attacks. Crustle, Suicune, and Dragonite play the role of support, but each has the ability to do damage in its own right. More detail is given on how these Pokemon function in their descriptions. Lastly is Lucario, who comes in to clean up the mess and finish the game.
And yes, there's no Victini on Team Victory.
Crustle (F) @ Mental Herb
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- X-Scissor
- Stone Edge
Crustle is a valiant suicide lead, who occasionally manages to escape with his life. Mental Herb guarantees that no Taunter will stop me, although against many Taunt users Crustle can fight back. X-Scissor hits Deoxys-E and Whimsicott leads hard, while Stone Edge will make Tornadus or Thundurus think twice. Taunt Gliscor leads are more or less untouchable with only 95 base attack, but Crustle is then free to at least get up Stealth Rock, and often a layer of Spikes or two. Even against Fake Out leads such as Mienshao, Crustle can survive long enough to put down SR; Mienshao Hi Jump Kick with Life Orb won't kill after Fake Out, and Ambipom and Infernape aren't doing a whole lot better. Crustle can sometimes return later in the game when paralysis is rampant on the opposing team and clean things up, but this is pretty rare. If Crustle makes it past the opening stages of the game, he turns out to be a surprisingly decent switch-in to Ferrothorn, able to wear it down with X-Scissor and taking minimal damage from Gyro Ball.
Lucario (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Vacuum Wave
Lucario was essentially the founding member of this team; his already excellent special sweeping capabilities have been powerfully augmented by Nasty Plot. If I manage to NP even once, Lucario will almost always take down several Pokemon. Because of his excessive frailty I tend to save him for late in the game, when I can comfortably rely on Vacuum Wave instead of having to take chances with fairly middling Speed. Modest is used to give extra power in the absence of Life Orb. Speaking of Life Orb, Air Balloon may seem like an odd choice but this means that Lucario makes an exceptional switch into Excadrill and sand teams in general; Lucario is 2HKO'd by a +2 Rock Slide from Excadrill and will comfortably OHKO in return with Aura Sphere. Even without HP Ice, Dark Pulse can often 2HKO Gliscor.
Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power Fire
Latios is a vital part of the offensive core behind this team. With Choice Specs he's capable of absolutely demolishing almost anything not named Blissey. On the topic of Blissey, Psyshock gives me a convenient way of eliminating the pink blob from the match. The only problem this set runs into is Ferrothorn; I have thought about running Hidden Power Fire over Dragon Pulse, but Draco Meteor hits so hard despite the resistance that Ferrothorn is usually not able to switch in too many times. Latios is simply free to hit and run, as Ferrothorn itself is not particularly threatening offensively.
Metagross @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
Metagross is part 2 of the big offensive hard-hitters of the team. Adamant nature and 252 Atk EVs brings him up to a whopping 405 Attack before Choice Band boost. Even heavily defensive walls like Forretress will have a rough time taking Earthquake or Meteor Mash. Pursuit makes Metagross an excellent switch-in to all manner of Psychic types, particularly Reuniclus who won't OHKO with Focus Blast unless it has several boosts. Bullet Punch becomes more helpful as the game wears on, allowing Metagross to clean up weakened Pokemon, or whittle them down so that Spikes/SR will get them the next time they switch in.
Dragonite (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Dragon Tail
- Substitute
- Roost
The fairly unimpressive speed tiers on this team (bar Latios) are certainly apparent. Because of this, Dragonite's paralysis support is absolutely essential. By slowing down speedy sweepers like Infernape, Dragonite opens up a pathway for sweeps from Metagross and Lucario. Dragon Tail is very useful alongside Crustle's Spikes/SR, as the layer damage accumulates quickly and will give my team the safety of relying on priority. Substitute and Roost simply allow Dragonite to last as long as possible, giving him as many chances as he can get to spam Thunder Wave all over the opposing team.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Now taking the place of Gliscor, I'm running a Suicune set in place. Suicune does an excellent job taking Ice-type attacks from all sorts of Pokemon (particularly Ice Shard users like Mamoswine and Weavile). Rest and Sleep Talk give Suicune the ability to handle numerous repeated switch-ins, and it also gives it an important job as a status absorber on the team. The ability to switch into Thunder Wave and Will-o-wisp is greatly appreciated; in particular, Suicune loves taking Metagross' place when a burn is coming in. Calm Mind means that Suicune can engage quite happily in stall wars against other non-boosting defensive Pokemon, although it can't stay in against Leech Seed Ferrothorn. It also gets into a PP war with Sigilyph, which is quite a pain.
I would appreciate any comments or suggestions you have about this team. Although I've had more success with it than I think I should given that I'm not an especially good player, I can tell there is still room for improvement. Thanks everyone for reading my post. :)
The attacking core of the team is formed by Metagross and Latios, who together wield ferocious power that can walk over essentially any wall. I rely on them to deal damage for the majority of a match, as they're often capable of severely damaging even things that resist their attacks. Crustle, Suicune, and Dragonite play the role of support, but each has the ability to do damage in its own right. More detail is given on how these Pokemon function in their descriptions. Lastly is Lucario, who comes in to clean up the mess and finish the game.
And yes, there's no Victini on Team Victory.
Crustle (F) @ Mental Herb
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- X-Scissor
- Stone Edge
Crustle is a valiant suicide lead, who occasionally manages to escape with his life. Mental Herb guarantees that no Taunter will stop me, although against many Taunt users Crustle can fight back. X-Scissor hits Deoxys-E and Whimsicott leads hard, while Stone Edge will make Tornadus or Thundurus think twice. Taunt Gliscor leads are more or less untouchable with only 95 base attack, but Crustle is then free to at least get up Stealth Rock, and often a layer of Spikes or two. Even against Fake Out leads such as Mienshao, Crustle can survive long enough to put down SR; Mienshao Hi Jump Kick with Life Orb won't kill after Fake Out, and Ambipom and Infernape aren't doing a whole lot better. Crustle can sometimes return later in the game when paralysis is rampant on the opposing team and clean things up, but this is pretty rare. If Crustle makes it past the opening stages of the game, he turns out to be a surprisingly decent switch-in to Ferrothorn, able to wear it down with X-Scissor and taking minimal damage from Gyro Ball.
Lucario (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Vacuum Wave
Lucario was essentially the founding member of this team; his already excellent special sweeping capabilities have been powerfully augmented by Nasty Plot. If I manage to NP even once, Lucario will almost always take down several Pokemon. Because of his excessive frailty I tend to save him for late in the game, when I can comfortably rely on Vacuum Wave instead of having to take chances with fairly middling Speed. Modest is used to give extra power in the absence of Life Orb. Speaking of Life Orb, Air Balloon may seem like an odd choice but this means that Lucario makes an exceptional switch into Excadrill and sand teams in general; Lucario is 2HKO'd by a +2 Rock Slide from Excadrill and will comfortably OHKO in return with Aura Sphere. Even without HP Ice, Dark Pulse can often 2HKO Gliscor.
Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power Fire
Latios is a vital part of the offensive core behind this team. With Choice Specs he's capable of absolutely demolishing almost anything not named Blissey. On the topic of Blissey, Psyshock gives me a convenient way of eliminating the pink blob from the match. The only problem this set runs into is Ferrothorn; I have thought about running Hidden Power Fire over Dragon Pulse, but Draco Meteor hits so hard despite the resistance that Ferrothorn is usually not able to switch in too many times. Latios is simply free to hit and run, as Ferrothorn itself is not particularly threatening offensively.
Metagross @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
Metagross is part 2 of the big offensive hard-hitters of the team. Adamant nature and 252 Atk EVs brings him up to a whopping 405 Attack before Choice Band boost. Even heavily defensive walls like Forretress will have a rough time taking Earthquake or Meteor Mash. Pursuit makes Metagross an excellent switch-in to all manner of Psychic types, particularly Reuniclus who won't OHKO with Focus Blast unless it has several boosts. Bullet Punch becomes more helpful as the game wears on, allowing Metagross to clean up weakened Pokemon, or whittle them down so that Spikes/SR will get them the next time they switch in.
Dragonite (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Dragon Tail
- Substitute
- Roost
The fairly unimpressive speed tiers on this team (bar Latios) are certainly apparent. Because of this, Dragonite's paralysis support is absolutely essential. By slowing down speedy sweepers like Infernape, Dragonite opens up a pathway for sweeps from Metagross and Lucario. Dragon Tail is very useful alongside Crustle's Spikes/SR, as the layer damage accumulates quickly and will give my team the safety of relying on priority. Substitute and Roost simply allow Dragonite to last as long as possible, giving him as many chances as he can get to spam Thunder Wave all over the opposing team.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Now taking the place of Gliscor, I'm running a Suicune set in place. Suicune does an excellent job taking Ice-type attacks from all sorts of Pokemon (particularly Ice Shard users like Mamoswine and Weavile). Rest and Sleep Talk give Suicune the ability to handle numerous repeated switch-ins, and it also gives it an important job as a status absorber on the team. The ability to switch into Thunder Wave and Will-o-wisp is greatly appreciated; in particular, Suicune loves taking Metagross' place when a burn is coming in. Calm Mind means that Suicune can engage quite happily in stall wars against other non-boosting defensive Pokemon, although it can't stay in against Leech Seed Ferrothorn. It also gets into a PP war with Sigilyph, which is quite a pain.
I would appreciate any comments or suggestions you have about this team. Although I've had more success with it than I think I should given that I'm not an especially good player, I can tell there is still room for improvement. Thanks everyone for reading my post. :)
