The Legend of
HODOU MASAKA
HODOU MASAKA
Introduction:
This team originally started with one of many failed ventures into the higher ranks of the Standard ladder on my main. I had been attempting to use a Hyper Offense team, and early attempts at originality slowly left me in the dust. I began stacking my team with hard-hitting beasts like Latias and Heatran to try and scrounge a few more points by, but losses still came more often than not and I began to fall. It seemed every change I made only served to make the team worse. And so, I started from scratch, under a new alias: Hodou Masaka.
The new team was a result of working to mix fast, high-powered offense with capable tanks to create a team that mixes typical Stall concepts and Pokemon into a team that's largely meant to be offensive. The idea is to stall the opponent and set up hazards without losing the threat produced by an offensive Pokemon, using walls that also pack brutal attacks like Skarmory, Hippowdon, and Bronzong. While the enemy tries to break through these three, Gengar and Crobat hang back and wait for openings to come in and strike the enemy with full force, while Magnezone waits to trap the various Steel-types that those two would typically have trouble defeating.
This team originally started with one of many failed ventures into the higher ranks of the Standard ladder on my main. I had been attempting to use a Hyper Offense team, and early attempts at originality slowly left me in the dust. I began stacking my team with hard-hitting beasts like Latias and Heatran to try and scrounge a few more points by, but losses still came more often than not and I began to fall. It seemed every change I made only served to make the team worse. And so, I started from scratch, under a new alias: Hodou Masaka.
The new team was a result of working to mix fast, high-powered offense with capable tanks to create a team that mixes typical Stall concepts and Pokemon into a team that's largely meant to be offensive. The idea is to stall the opponent and set up hazards without losing the threat produced by an offensive Pokemon, using walls that also pack brutal attacks like Skarmory, Hippowdon, and Bronzong. While the enemy tries to break through these three, Gengar and Crobat hang back and wait for openings to come in and strike the enemy with full force, while Magnezone waits to trap the various Steel-types that those two would typically have trouble defeating.
The Team:
(CORA ka) Crobat @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly nature
- Taunt
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- U-Turn
For this team, I needed a lead that could stall (or ideally prevent) the placement of Stealth Rocks, while also being able to deal serious damage on its own. Originally I used Aerodactyl in this position, but since so many common leads are immune to Earthquake, I began using a Brave Bird Crobat. He has a powerful STAB option in Brave Bird, while being able to scout its own counters with one of the fastest U-Turns in the game. Like many of the sets here, he's just the standard Smogon set. I use him mostly to determine what the first Pokemon on the opponent's side will be (aside from their lead) and switch out to the appropriate wall. Though it's helpful to keep Crobat around to deal Brave Bird and U-Turn damage later on, he can be sacrificed more often than not without hurting the team much.
(HOPI ka) Hippowdon @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Impish nature
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Roar
(BORN ka) Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Heatproof
EVs: 216 HP / 86 Atk / 208 SpD
Sassy nature
- Hypnosis
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Explosion
Yes, you read that right. Heatproof. In today's metagame, EVERYBODY expects Levitate on a Bronzong. And it's so remarkably easy to fake -- switch Bronzong in on a Metagross and nobody will look at you funny, a mindgame no other Pokemon can really play. Before long, they're sending in Heatran, Mixmence, etc. to try and deal with you, only to see their Fire Blasts fall flat and recieve a brutal EQ or Gyro Ball to the dome. By being the underused, inferior ability, Heatproof actually becomes a risky tradeoff that can be very similar to having both abilities at once. Since I already have several Pokemon that ignore or resist EQ (and very little means of taking powerful Fire attacks,) I decided Heatproof was the best ability for my team. As mentioned before, Bronzong resists Toxic and TSpikes, counters Heatran and Mixmence, and Hypnotizes counters it can't deal with. Top it all off with an Explosion, and it does more for my team than a typical Blissey ever could. (Ironically, if everyone started to use Heatproof, it would become totally worthless. Thank god it's still "inferior.")
(GENA ka) Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 190 Def / 68 Spe / 252 SpA
Timid nature
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- HP Fire
- Destiny Bond
Gena's job is simple -- wait in the shadows of Hippowdon and Bronzong for the opportune moment to jump into the battlefield, deal as much damage as possible, and disappear again before anything gets the chance to hit her. The most unusual thing about this Gengar set is obviously the EVs. Who the hell gives defensive EVs to a Gengar? Somebody who wants to be able to kill Scizor and Dusknoir in a pinch, that's who. If it's necessary, these EVs allow Gengar to survive a Choice Banded BP from Scizor and even a max attack Shadow Sneak from Dusknoir, and then kill them with HP Fire and Shadow Ball respectively. Now Gengar against Scizor isn't quite a guaranteed loss after all, and this set still has enough Speed EVs to successfully outrun and kill Scarf Rotom. STAB Shadow Ball has always been a brilliant attack on Gengar that can easily sweep a weakened team. And if I accidentally let an opponent set up to the point where I can no longer wall them, Destiny Bond can sacrifice Gengar to remove them from the game.
(MAZE ka) Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spe
Timid nature
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- HP Grass
- Magnet Rise
Like Gena, Maze sits behind Bronzong and Hippowdon for an opportunity to come out and pick off unsuspecting targets. In this case, the target is the pesky common household pest known as the Steel type. Without Magnezone, Empoleon would easily tear through the team and I'd get walled by enemy Bronzong. He also kills Scizor locked into Bullet Punch when necessary. Since I have enough ways to go up against the ever-common Salamence and Dragonite, I opted for HP Grass since it outspeeds and kills Swampert with hazard damage (another common problem.)
(SKAR ka) Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Ability: Irrelevant, Skarmory's abilities suck.
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 16 Spe
Impish nature
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Originally, I spent several matches trying different hit-and-run attackers like Gengar to fill this spot. It wasn't long before I realized the real problem wasn't attack coverage, but defense -- though Hopi and Born could sufficiently wall most attacks together, if Hippowdon fell early in the game the team was often rendered useless. I didn't need more firepower, I needed a thicker shield. Enter Skarmory, whose main role is as support for Hopi. He can take any of the physical attacks that give Hopi trouble, whereas Hopi will give a rude awakening to any Magnezones and other electric-types attempting to pick off Skarmory (I gave him a Shed Shell when I realized my team wasn't exactly happy to see Magnezone sometimes.) He also lays down Spikes to increase the already-potent entry damage from Hopi's Stealth Rocks, and provides his own STAB Brave Bird (albeit weaker than Crobat's.)
SYNERGY:
Yes, it's true, a lot of these Pokemon are either completely ripped from or heavily based on the basic Smogon sets. But hey, they're there because they work. And on this team, they definitely work. The real point of this team isn't unique sets or fresh ideas, but combining the mentalities of stall and stab with good synergy. Each Pokemon here (with maybe the exception of Crobat) can take the pain off of something else on the team:
CROBAT:
Physical Attacks, Electric or Rock= Hippowdon
Special Attacks, Psychic= Bronzong
HIPPOWDON:
Special Attacks= Bronzong
Grass= Crobat, Skarmory, or Bronzong
(Overwhelming) Physical Water= Skarmory
BRONZONG:
Physical Attacks= Hippowdon or Skarmory
Ground (when they know about the ability)= Crobat, Gengar, Hippowdon
Fire (when they don't know about the ability)= Tee-hee...
SKARMORY:
Electric= Hippowdon
Superpower/Close Combat= Hippowdon
Fire= Bronzong (though sadly, this gives away his ability...)
Special Attacks= Bronzong
MAGNEZONE:
Physical Fighting= Hippowdon or Skarmory
Special Fighting= Crobat or Skarmory
Ground= Hippowdon, Gengar, Crobat, Skarmory
Fire= Bronzong (see Skarmory)
GENGAR:
Bullet Punch = Magnezone, Hippowdon
Sucker Punch = Hippowdon
Ghost = Depends on the attack type and whether or not they use status
Psychic = Bronzong
SPECIAL THANKS:
TVBoyCanti, for the Gengar sprite (which I recolored to Shiny)
Pokemon Elite 2000 for the other sprites (recolored Crobat and Skarmory)
Obi, whose old stall team RMT inspired me to consider Skarmory as a Hippowdon partner
