Hey guys, I'm here with my third B/W team! Let's get started.....
Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
Slowbro is a fantastic Pokemon. First of all, his high HP stat lets him take abuse all day, and heal off the damage. And with instant recovery in Slack Off and the ability Regenerator, he can heal himself with extreme ease. His job is simple: be a defensive pivot while providing paralysis support. With his bulk, he can come in on many offensive threats, take the hit, and paralyze back. Scald if for STAB, as well as having a chance to burn the opponent if I feel it would be more useful than paralysis. Seeing as Slowbro can come in on most Dragons, I felt Ice Beam would be a great move to help combat them. His EV's give him almost maximum bulk, and Leftovers is for the recovery. Even though he is mostly physically bulky, he can come in on many special moves, such as Fire or Fighting, which Ferrothorn is weak too. And to express his thanks, Ferrothorn can eat any Electric attack aimed at Slowbro. And as an added bonus to Slowbro's Electric weakness, Nidoking can score a free switch in if predicted right.
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Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Ferrothorn is the second half of my defensive core, and also my second user of Thunder Wave. Despite my attempts to not use this thing, as he is very over used, he always finds a way on my team in one stage or another.....he's good. His fantastic defenses help him and Slowbro wall much of the metagame. This set is pretty standard. Thunder Wave is for Nidoking support. Leech Seed helps Ferrothorn regain some more health, as he does not have access to an instant recovery move. Stealth Rocks, I feel, is a must on every team, as it breaks Study/Focus Sash, and breaks Multiscale. Power Whip if so taunt doesn't shut me down, and it still deals a fair amount of damage, especially when combined with Iron Barbs and Leech Seed damage. Leftovers are for recovery. Ferrothorn and Slowbro work extremely well together, not sharing a weakness and covering most of each others. The only Pokemon that I'm worried about and can't paralyze is Landorus, but Ferrothorn can wall him all day, and Slowbro can wall all of him except U-Turn, and attack back with Scald or Ice Beam. Not to mention that if he isn't Scarfed, Infernape out speeds him and KO's back with Hidden Power Ice.
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Haxorus (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
Haxorus is an absolute beast, and the power he brings to the table is much needed. This is the standard Double Dance set, which I have used on other teams before. I use the Double Dance set instead of the Dragon Dance set because I don't feel that Brick Break brings much to the table, but if I manage to get a Dragon Dance and a Swords Dance off, Haxorus is almost guaranteed at least two kills. And even though he only has two attacking options, but that's really all he needs. I don't need to worry about Levitate from anything, which is especially helpful against Bronzong. I can't tell you how many times someone would leave their Levitater in, thinking that I can't hurt them or they will lock me into Outrage, just to get OHKO'ed. Outrage is the main attacking option, and as long as there is no Steel type left, I can just spam the move mindlessly, especially with Lum Berry to cure the confusion.
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Infernape (M) @ Life Orb/Expert Belt?
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- ThunderPunch
- Close Combat
Infernape is my wall breaker, with his main job being taking out Chansey and Blissey to help out Nidoking. He is also my back up recipient of Venomoth's Baton Pass. I made his moveset based on many of the common defensive Pokemon I've seen: Chansey, Blissey, Jellicent, Ferrothorn, Gliscor, Skarmory....the list goes on. With this moveset, I have good coverage, and the ability to hit defensive Pokemon for super effective damage, many from their weaker stat. And even if I can't OHKO something, I can still damage it heavily with the appropriate move. Fire Blast and Close Combat are for powerful STAB options. Thunder Punch is to take care of Jellicent and weaken other bulky waters as well. Hidden Power Ice is for Gliscor, a very annoying Pokemon. It also helps to take care of Dragons, and Landorus. For the EV's, I used the ones from the Mixed Attacker set, as well as it's nature. The item is questionable for me, at the moment I have Life Orb. But think about this scenario: a player has a Gliscor and a Blissey on their team, and I send in Infernape against Blissey. Fearing the incoming Close Combat, they switch to Gliscor. Now with Life Orb, they know that I'm not choiced, so they probably won't keep in Gliscor, and then I have to try and out predict my opponent. But with Expert Belt, I can pretend to be choiced, and then catch them off guard when they think that I can't hurt them.
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Venomoth (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance
- Baton Pass
- Bug Buzz
Venomoth is a great Pokemon, being one of the two that can pass a Quiver Dance to a partner. The objective is simple: Sleep Powder whoever is in, Quiver Dance, depending on the situation Quiver Dance again, and then Baton Pass. Thanks to his respectable speed and Sleep Powder, it's fairly easy to get a Quiver Dance up, and if my opponent doesn't have a strong physical attacker left, I can probably steal a couple more Quiver Dances before passing the show to Nidoking. He's EV'ed to have as much speed as possible, and also have some more bulk. Bug Buzz is for an attacking option, and it's able to hit harder on some Pokemon thanks to Tinted Lens. Leftovers is for a little more recovery. Both Venomoth and Nidoking share a weakness to Psychic, which might sound bad, but if the opponent brings in that Pokemon to counter Venomoth, and they take a Sleep Powder, it could be a huge advantage for Nidoking.
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Nidoking (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Here's the star of the show! Nidoking really is just pure power, thanks to his amazing ability, which raises the power of all four moves on this set, and negates Life Orb damage. Combine all this power with fantastic coverage, and a couple of Quiver Dances, and Nidoking might actually be as unstoppable as the show would want you to believe. Earth Power is for STAB, and does some incredible damage. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam form the very effective BoltBeam combo, and Flamethrower is to tack off the likes of Ferrothorn and Skarmory. Timid nature is so that I can out speed as many Pokemon as possible. There really isn't much more to be said about this set. Once I have to opportunity to Baton Pass to him, he just goes on the offensive, and if everything went according to plan along the way, he should sweep. Sometimes I'll bring him in on and obvious Electric attack against a slower Pokemon, or switch him in after something died and try to get a kill earlier in the match, but he is usually my late game dude.
So that's the team! I feel that this team is decent, with a lot of potential. Like I said before, I do have very bad luck and that takes away some wins, but even in losses this team shows some good signs. I'm not the greatest battler yet but I want to use this team to try an excel. Thank you for taking the time to read my RMT, and please don't hold back because I want all the advice I can get.
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
Haxorus (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
Nidoking (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- ThunderPunch
- Close Combat
Venomoth (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance
- Baton Pass
- Bug Buzz
I'm not very good at spotting threats, but here are a few that I've found from playing.
Only because of his ability. Unaware negates the stat boosts to Nidoking and Haxorus, and Scald threatens them both, being Super Effective against Nidoking and Haxorus doesn't want a burn. Ferrothorn can kind of handle him, but he doesn't really want a burn either.
If his Focus Sash is in tact, which is easy because of his ability, he can threaten all three of my main attackers. With three Psychic weaknesses, a Ghost weakness, a Fighting weakness, and the frailty of Haxorus, Alakazam could really do a number on my team. All I can really hope for is a miss from Focus Blast. Priority would help against him, but at the moment I don't have any.
Priority Attacks
Pretty much all of them. Nidoking is weak to Ice Shard and Aqua Jet, Infernape is weak to Aqua Jet, and Haxorus is weak to Ice Shard. Not to mention that since they are all frail, even neutral damage priority is a problem. If I play smart, I can try to take care of the priority user before he's a problem, but its still a problem.
Introduction
I'm not gonna pretend that I'm a great player; I make good decisions when I watch my friends battle, and I know a fair amount about the metagame, but for some reason I will almost always make a mistake in a battle that costs me the game. I try to go with first instincts, but then I'll rethink, click a different move, and before I can click cancel, my mistake unfolds. On top of that, I am the most unlucky person when it comes to luck, whether its my opponents getting 5 crits on me in one match, or me missing 3 times in a row with Fire Blast. With all those factors together, I've never really peaked higher than about 1200, but I know that I've could have made it higher. Since I know that I'm prone to losing one way or they other, I decided to build a team with Pokemon that I really liked using instead of trying to use a whole bunch of the Top 25 Pokemon. This brought me back to Nidoking. Ever since he got his Dream World ability, I've been trying to come up with effective strategies to setup a sweep with him, and I feel that this team has a lot of potential. So with further adieu, let's get to the good stuff!
At a Glance
Team Building Process
Seeing how I was trying to build a team around Nidoking, he is obviously the first member of the team. Sheer Force is probably the perfect ability for Nidoking, as with his giant move pool there are plenty of moves that get the boost. Add the fact that it negates the HP loss of Life Orb and that Nidoking has average special attack, you get an absolute monster offensively, with the only Pokemon who can safely switch in being Chansey and Blissey, or the rare Rotom-H. So the first supporting member for Nidoking had to be someone that can take out the blobs. Enter Infernape.
Infernape is a powerhouse with excellent dual STAB, being super effective against both parts of the SkarmBliss wall combo. With great speed, and the ability to excel with a mixed set, he was hard to pass up in favor of other Fighting types. With the problem of Blissey/Chansey theoretically remedied, I had to focus on the next task. Nidoking's only real problem is his speed stat; a lot of the Pokemon that outspeed him carry a super effective move. There are couple ways to fix this, and I feel the most effective is paralysis support. Not only does it half the opponents speed and help Nidoking sweep, but it also has the nice chance of making my opponent not attack at all, so this was a must. I felt having 2 Pokemon with Thunder Wave would be the best idea, so I have the ability to paralyze as many Pokemon as possible. I also needed them to be defensive, so they could take a hit from the faster guys, and paralyze them back. Slowbro was the first one to come to mind, with his great physical bulk, and Water typing. Seeing as Infernape was already a member, I went ahead and finished my F/W/G core, and went with Ferrothorn, another bulky Pokemon with access to Thunder Wave. And as an added bonus, Ferrothorn would give me hazards!
Though paralysis is nice, relying on it as my only way to let Nidoking sweep would be foolish. My next idea was to, instead of lowering my opponents speed, use Baton Pass to get Nidoking a speed boost. I didn't want to spend a lot of time setting up, so I had to go with something quick. The two best options, in my opinion, were Shell Smash and Quiver Dance. Obviously, Shell Smash is the faster option, but Quiver Dance brings a lot more to the table. First of all, the Pokemon who has the ability to pass it is Venemoth, who also has access to Sleep Powder, getting rid of a potential counter. Second, not only does Quiver Dance raise both speed and special attack, it also provides Nidoking with a little more bulk, raising special defense. With these in mind, I opted to go with Venomoth.
5 spots down, one to go. At this point, I felt that Nidoking was well supported, and I also felt that even if something happened to Nidoking, the support that is used to help him can help the entire team, so it isn't a detriment if he dies. I did, however, feel that if Infernape failed to at least dent Blissey and Chansey, I was in big trouble. So I needed a physical attacker. Haxorus was the first to come mind, for a few reasons. One: while Haxorus is by no means slow, he doesn't mind having paralysis support to help with the faster dudes. Two: Mold Breaker is a fantastic ability, allowing to use less prediction when using Earthquake and not caring if someone has Study. Three: after the Steel types are gone, and with access to both Dragon Dance and Swords Dance, Haxorus can clean up late game pretty easily. So after tallying up all these pros, I went with Haxorus as my last member.
Up Close
Team Building Process
Up Close
Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
Slowbro is a fantastic Pokemon. First of all, his high HP stat lets him take abuse all day, and heal off the damage. And with instant recovery in Slack Off and the ability Regenerator, he can heal himself with extreme ease. His job is simple: be a defensive pivot while providing paralysis support. With his bulk, he can come in on many offensive threats, take the hit, and paralyze back. Scald if for STAB, as well as having a chance to burn the opponent if I feel it would be more useful than paralysis. Seeing as Slowbro can come in on most Dragons, I felt Ice Beam would be a great move to help combat them. His EV's give him almost maximum bulk, and Leftovers is for the recovery. Even though he is mostly physically bulky, he can come in on many special moves, such as Fire or Fighting, which Ferrothorn is weak too. And to express his thanks, Ferrothorn can eat any Electric attack aimed at Slowbro. And as an added bonus to Slowbro's Electric weakness, Nidoking can score a free switch in if predicted right.
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Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Ferrothorn is the second half of my defensive core, and also my second user of Thunder Wave. Despite my attempts to not use this thing, as he is very over used, he always finds a way on my team in one stage or another.....he's good. His fantastic defenses help him and Slowbro wall much of the metagame. This set is pretty standard. Thunder Wave is for Nidoking support. Leech Seed helps Ferrothorn regain some more health, as he does not have access to an instant recovery move. Stealth Rocks, I feel, is a must on every team, as it breaks Study/Focus Sash, and breaks Multiscale. Power Whip if so taunt doesn't shut me down, and it still deals a fair amount of damage, especially when combined with Iron Barbs and Leech Seed damage. Leftovers are for recovery. Ferrothorn and Slowbro work extremely well together, not sharing a weakness and covering most of each others. The only Pokemon that I'm worried about and can't paralyze is Landorus, but Ferrothorn can wall him all day, and Slowbro can wall all of him except U-Turn, and attack back with Scald or Ice Beam. Not to mention that if he isn't Scarfed, Infernape out speeds him and KO's back with Hidden Power Ice.
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Haxorus (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
Haxorus is an absolute beast, and the power he brings to the table is much needed. This is the standard Double Dance set, which I have used on other teams before. I use the Double Dance set instead of the Dragon Dance set because I don't feel that Brick Break brings much to the table, but if I manage to get a Dragon Dance and a Swords Dance off, Haxorus is almost guaranteed at least two kills. And even though he only has two attacking options, but that's really all he needs. I don't need to worry about Levitate from anything, which is especially helpful against Bronzong. I can't tell you how many times someone would leave their Levitater in, thinking that I can't hurt them or they will lock me into Outrage, just to get OHKO'ed. Outrage is the main attacking option, and as long as there is no Steel type left, I can just spam the move mindlessly, especially with Lum Berry to cure the confusion.
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Infernape (M) @ Life Orb/Expert Belt?
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- ThunderPunch
- Close Combat
Infernape is my wall breaker, with his main job being taking out Chansey and Blissey to help out Nidoking. He is also my back up recipient of Venomoth's Baton Pass. I made his moveset based on many of the common defensive Pokemon I've seen: Chansey, Blissey, Jellicent, Ferrothorn, Gliscor, Skarmory....the list goes on. With this moveset, I have good coverage, and the ability to hit defensive Pokemon for super effective damage, many from their weaker stat. And even if I can't OHKO something, I can still damage it heavily with the appropriate move. Fire Blast and Close Combat are for powerful STAB options. Thunder Punch is to take care of Jellicent and weaken other bulky waters as well. Hidden Power Ice is for Gliscor, a very annoying Pokemon. It also helps to take care of Dragons, and Landorus. For the EV's, I used the ones from the Mixed Attacker set, as well as it's nature. The item is questionable for me, at the moment I have Life Orb. But think about this scenario: a player has a Gliscor and a Blissey on their team, and I send in Infernape against Blissey. Fearing the incoming Close Combat, they switch to Gliscor. Now with Life Orb, they know that I'm not choiced, so they probably won't keep in Gliscor, and then I have to try and out predict my opponent. But with Expert Belt, I can pretend to be choiced, and then catch them off guard when they think that I can't hurt them.
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Venomoth (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance
- Baton Pass
- Bug Buzz
Venomoth is a great Pokemon, being one of the two that can pass a Quiver Dance to a partner. The objective is simple: Sleep Powder whoever is in, Quiver Dance, depending on the situation Quiver Dance again, and then Baton Pass. Thanks to his respectable speed and Sleep Powder, it's fairly easy to get a Quiver Dance up, and if my opponent doesn't have a strong physical attacker left, I can probably steal a couple more Quiver Dances before passing the show to Nidoking. He's EV'ed to have as much speed as possible, and also have some more bulk. Bug Buzz is for an attacking option, and it's able to hit harder on some Pokemon thanks to Tinted Lens. Leftovers is for a little more recovery. Both Venomoth and Nidoking share a weakness to Psychic, which might sound bad, but if the opponent brings in that Pokemon to counter Venomoth, and they take a Sleep Powder, it could be a huge advantage for Nidoking.
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Nidoking (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Here's the star of the show! Nidoking really is just pure power, thanks to his amazing ability, which raises the power of all four moves on this set, and negates Life Orb damage. Combine all this power with fantastic coverage, and a couple of Quiver Dances, and Nidoking might actually be as unstoppable as the show would want you to believe. Earth Power is for STAB, and does some incredible damage. Thunderbolt and Ice Beam form the very effective BoltBeam combo, and Flamethrower is to tack off the likes of Ferrothorn and Skarmory. Timid nature is so that I can out speed as many Pokemon as possible. There really isn't much more to be said about this set. Once I have to opportunity to Baton Pass to him, he just goes on the offensive, and if everything went according to plan along the way, he should sweep. Sometimes I'll bring him in on and obvious Electric attack against a slower Pokemon, or switch him in after something died and try to get a kill earlier in the match, but he is usually my late game dude.
Conclusion
So that's the team! I feel that this team is decent, with a lot of potential. Like I said before, I do have very bad luck and that takes away some wins, but even in losses this team shows some good signs. I'm not the greatest battler yet but I want to use this team to try an excel. Thank you for taking the time to read my RMT, and please don't hold back because I want all the advice I can get.
Importable
Slowbro (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: RegeneratorEVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
Haxorus (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
Nidoking (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- ThunderPunch
- Close Combat
Venomoth (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance
- Baton Pass
- Bug Buzz
Threats
I'm not very good at spotting threats, but here are a few that I've found from playing.
Only because of his ability. Unaware negates the stat boosts to Nidoking and Haxorus, and Scald threatens them both, being Super Effective against Nidoking and Haxorus doesn't want a burn. Ferrothorn can kind of handle him, but he doesn't really want a burn either.
If his Focus Sash is in tact, which is easy because of his ability, he can threaten all three of my main attackers. With three Psychic weaknesses, a Ghost weakness, a Fighting weakness, and the frailty of Haxorus, Alakazam could really do a number on my team. All I can really hope for is a miss from Focus Blast. Priority would help against him, but at the moment I don't have any.
Priority Attacks
Pretty much all of them. Nidoking is weak to Ice Shard and Aqua Jet, Infernape is weak to Aqua Jet, and Haxorus is weak to Ice Shard. Not to mention that since they are all frail, even neutral damage priority is a problem. If I play smart, I can try to take care of the priority user before he's a problem, but its still a problem.
