Trinitrotoluene
young ☆nd foolish
- [jump=intro]Introduction[/jump]
- [jump=build]Team Building[/jump]
- [jump=import]Importable[/jump]
- [jump=detail]The Team in Detail[/jump]
- [jump=landshark]Garchomp[/jump]
- [jump=weasel]Weavile[/jump]
- [jump=sea_star]Starmie[/jump]
- [jump=bell]Bronzong[/jump]
- [jump=f*ckin'_magnet]Magnezone[/jump]
- [jump=cube]Kyurem-B[/jump]
- [jump=closing]Closing Comments[/jump]
[a]intro[/a]
Hey Smogon! Many of my recent teams (Deep Sea of Mare, Girl in the Fire, Optical Overload) have centered themselves around the power of weather conditions and the sweepers associated with them. Recently, I've been delving into various forms of weatherless offense, ranging from VoltTurn spam to teams of choice. I've encountered problems with each of those playstyles, and I've been forced back to the drawing board each time. However, a proverbial angel descended from Ubers in the form of Black Kyurem, who boasted the most powerful Outrage in the game. One look at it, and I knew I had to create a team that abused its frightening power to the limit. I created quite a few variants of this team, using Pokemon ranging from hazard support utilitymons like Deoxys-D to trappers like Gothitelle, but it just didn't click for me. Then, I decided to simplify the constructs of the team and use some UU Pokemon that could exploit the current state of the OU metagame. Afterwards, the pieces of the puzzle fell together, and with the team assembled, I climbed up the OU ladder. I eventually peaked at #14 on Showdown's OU ladder under the alt Shōgo Kitsukawa. I've also used this team to win every OU mini-tournament I've entered (aside from the one where I had to drop out of because of errands). Again, I know that ladder ratings and mini-tour victories are not needed to prove a team's success, but I don't ladder that often, so this is a large accomplishment for me.The concept behind this team is DragMag offense, so obviously there are going to be many similarities to other DragMag teams posted, since they share many of the same game-winning elements. For instance, this team bears many similarities to PK Gaming's and JabbaTheGriffin's Enter the Dragon, in its use of a powerful Banded Dragon (in my team Kyu-B, in their team Haxorus), Garchomp, Magnezone (although the actual sets differ), and an Ice-type to snipe opposing dragons (Weavile for me, Mamoswine for them). Just like any other DragMag offense team, the game plan is simple. Spam Outrage until a Steel-type is encountered. From there, use Mag to trap and KO the aforementioned steel. Start spamming Outrage again. Annoying physical wall not named Skarmory impeding the progress of the team? Use Mag or another special sweeper to open up even more holes so Outrage can break past their team.
This paragraph is just dedicated to flavor descriptions, so if you want to move onto the substance of this rate, go on ahead and skip it. For those of you out of the loop, this team borrows its name from The Shooting Star Project (ZERO MIX), the name of chapter 518 of Bleach, and the names of the individual Pokemon themselves are the names of various tracks from Pendulum. Weavile's name came from "Ulterior Motive," the track found on the AA side of their "Spiral" EP, and Garchomp, Kyurem-B, and Bronzong drew their names from "Streamline," "Slam," and "Another Planet," the twelfth, second, and thirteenth tracks found in Hold Your Colour, released in 2005. Magnezone got its name from the "Axle Grinder," the fourteenth track in the 2007 re-issue of Hold Your Colour, which replaced "Another Planet" and "Still Grey" with "Blood Sugar" and "Axle Grinder" respectively. Starmie got its name from "Watercolour," the third track of Pendulum's Immersion album. With those descriptions done, let us move onto the team building process.
[a]build[/a]
Ah, Bronzong, Garchomp, and Weavile. One of the most underrated cores in existence. This core, which originated in Forget About Us?, an RMT by Katakiri, is equipped to deal with most of the OU metagame. Bronzong can wall most of the OU tier, thanks to its auspicious typing, incredible defenses, and Levitate. In addition, its pitiful speed allows it to use Gyro Ball at max power against most of OU. Garchomp is fast, powerful, and bulky, and thanks to its new-found access to Rough Skin, it can also punish Pokemon that rely on contact moves to revenge kill it. Weavile is Weavile, and can actually use the release of Techniloom and the Therians to its advantage.
Of course, Skarmory and Bronzong wall Garchomp and Weavile to the ends of the earth and back, so a means of eliminating them is needed. I decided to use Magnezone, since most Skarmory these days opt not to run Shed Shell, making their elimination just a matter of baiting them in with one of either Garchomp, Weavile, or another teammate. Magnezone also gives the team a weapon to use against rain teams that lack Thundurus-T, since nothing important likes switching into Electric-type moves.
Fighting-types sucked for this team to face down. To help beat them down, I decided to employ another underrated Pokemon: Alakazam. With Focus Sash and Magic Guard, it could serve as a nearly perfect revenge killer and special sweeper, eliminating walls and tormenting those that could torment Garchomp and Weavile. It could also serve as an early-game cleaner if the need to do so arose. It also works well with Magnezone, since it lures Scizor in like nothing else in OU, only for it to get trapped in the clutches of Magnezone.
Finally, I needed to find a last member of the team. Taking note that Kyurem-B dropped from Ubers a few months back, I decided now was the time to try it out. It looks stupid to pick a Pokemon that lacks good defensive synergy with the rest of the team, but in practice, it works extremely well. Kyurem-B can destroy the Pokemon that wall the rest of the team, and with Garchomp, it forms a deadly Dragon spam combo. Magnezone works well with it since most people on the ladder won't think twice about switching their bulky, slow steels in to sponge an Outrage, only to get locked into place and shot apart by Magnezone.
So, the team was working well, but I didn't like how Stealth Rock ate at the durability of Kyurem-B and Weavile, members that play very important roles for the team. Alakazam was the weakest link, and it didn't do much that Garchomp and Weavile couldn't already do for themselves, so I decided to change it to Starmie, which provides valuable spin support, while maintaining many of Alakazam's good traits, namely its lightning-fast speed and powerful STAB moves. This is the variant of The Shooting Star Project that peaked at #14 on the OU ladder.
[a]import[/a]
HTML:
Streamline (Garchomp) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Dual Chop
Ulterior Motive (Weavile) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
- Night Slash
- Low Kick
Watercolour (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
Another Planet (Bronzong) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 84 Def / 92 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 2 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
Axle Grinder (Magnezone) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 144 HP / 252 SAtk / 112 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Volt Switch
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
Slam (Kyurem-Black) @ Choice Band
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt
- Dragon Claw
- Sleep Talk
[a]detail[/a]
[BOX]There's a reason Garchomp went to Ubers, and it's not just because of Sand Veil. In addition to having one of the most rage-inducing abilities, it's fast, bulky, and powerful, all excellent traits to pack in one Pokemon. Now, with the loss of Sand Veil, Garchomp descended to OU for Round 2 of dominance. However, the addition of the Lati twins to OU, as well as Terrakion and Keldeo, two of the four Swords of Justice, have done well to curb its dominant streak. Regardless of its faults, I decided to use it. The next question after picking Garchomp was "Which
Now, you might be thinking, why not use Salamence? It's nearly as fast, has a better specially-based movepool, Special Attack stat, and ability in the form of Moxie, which lets it clean up better than Garchomp can. For one, Garchomp resists Stealth Rock, giving it more switches than Salamence could get on its own, and an effective immunity to Sandstorm damage, granting it much more longevity than Salamence. Garchomp also has access to Dual Chop, allowing it to beat Pokemon that abuse Substitute, namely SubCM Latias and Gengar. Also, Garchomp gets Rough Skin, which allows it to punish those Scarf Terrakion that try to revenge kill it with Close Combat.
The moves and EV spread couldn't be any more simple. Outrage smashes faces in, and Earthquake does the same without locking Garchomp into a move and confusing it in the end. Fire Fang lets Garchomp KO Scizor on its own, which is important since Garchomp can actually live through a +2 LO Scizor's Bullet Punch and OHKO with Fire Fang. I used to use Stone Edge over Fire Fang to revenge kill Volcarona and Thundurus-T without being forced to use Outrage, but Scizor started being a prick to the rest of my team, necessitating the change. Dual Chop is Garchomp's alternate Dragon STAB, and as mentioned earlier, it's used to break Substitutes set up by its opponent. Dual Chop also gives Garchomp a Dragon STAB move to use that doesn't bring with it the repercussion of being locked into a single move. The EV spread is simple. Attack and Speed are maximized, and the last 4 EVs are tossed into HP.
Despite being tossed into the lead position, I never lead with Garchomp. Doing so would just be stupid. Garchomp isn't strong enough to break apart teams in the early game. The breaking of teams is generally left to Kyurem-B and Weavile, both of which exhibit more strength than Garchomp thanks to raw stats (for the former) and a boosting item (for the latter). Garchomp tends to be brought out in the mid-game, when something that needs to be shut down is on the field. Garchomp is also used to end the game off if I have nothing better to end it with. Overall, Garchomp is the most important team member, and one that I am not going to replace.[/BOX]
[a]weasel[/a]
[BOX]Weavile is a dark horse in today's metagame. It's faster than Tornadus-T, one of the most notable threats in today's metagame, and strong enough to mow down many of OU's acclaimed dragons with a boosted Ice Shard alone. It could also deal with Psychics through the use of its STAB Pursuit and Night Slash. After deciding that I had to use it (the selection process can be seen below), I had to choose a set for it. Granted, Weavile has few viable sets it can run (NP Weavile hurr), and the difference between them is just one move. I ended up choosing the physical attacker because of its access to Pursuit, which helps Weavile fill the position of dragon killer and trapper that I need from this slot.
While Mamoswine may seem a better choice as a dragon slayer (and it most certainly is for many teams), I wanted something fast that could effectively deal with dragons, the genies and their Therian counterparts, the Lati twins (separated from the other dragons by virtue of their specially-based offensive nature), Starmie, and Technician Breloom, all of which are very potent threats. Mamoswine only helped against the first two and last threats, leaving the team with a vulnerability to specially-based Psychics, who could run through the team with their powerful moves. Tyranitar and Scizor helped against the middle two threats, but again, using both Tyranitar and Mamoswine would leave me with fewer available team slots and a very noticeable vulnerability to opposing Keldeo. Having Weavile on the team gave me the traits I was looking for, made the vulnerability to Keldeo less noticeable, and gave the team more room for another utility Pokemon that could take on another role that the team needed.
The moves are all standard fare for Weavile, and they pretty much are the only options even viable on it. Ice Shard allows Weavile to nail down the many dragons of OU, discouraging people from siccing their Scarf MoxieMences and other similar Pokemon on this team. It also keeps Rock Polish Landorus and Agility Thundurus-T from ripping this team apart after a boost, which really is helpful. Pursuit lets Weavile boast the trapper card, assuring the team that frail, but fast Psychics won't be tormenting the team any time soon. Night Slash got the nod over Ice Punch in the third slot due to recent testing, which revealed that bulky waters, especially Politoed, liked switching into Ice Punch. Low Kick adds to Weavile's coverage, and allows Weavile to hit Steels and Terrakion that like switching into Weavile's STAB moves. The EV spread maximizes Weavile's Attack, while allowing Weavile to outpace max Speed Tornadus-T by one point. The remaining 32 EVs give Weavile a marginal increase in bulk, allowing it to take a Scald from Jellicent and defensive Starmie. If you had battled me in the past, you would note that I used to use Choice Band over Life Orb. I decided to use Life Orb over Choice Band now since I like the freedom to be able to switch off moves and actually sweep in the late-game.
Weavile's frailty prevents it from switching into any moderately strong attack, reducing its switch opportunities to little more than coming in after a Volt Switch from Magnezone and / or a teammate's death. However, once it's in, Weavile can start creating chaos against the opponent's team with its STAB attacks and Low Kick. Weavile's opening attack will depend on how early it's brought out in the game. If it's facing an Outraging dragon with a Life Orb or Lum Berry, Weavile will lance an Ice Shard and get a kill right away. However, if I find myself sending Weavile out on the field in the early game, I'll throw out a Low Kick in the hopes that I can catch one of its counters on the switch. Usually, I'm able to catch a Terrakion or Heatran on the switch with a Low Kick, knocking them out, and clearing the path for the rest of the team to break the opponent's team apart. All in all, Weavile is pretty important, but I am willing to try out something new over it.[/BOX]
[a]sea_star[/a]
[BOX]Starmie probably is the most expendable member of my team. However, it has a somewhat important role as the team's resident spinner and Fighting-type resist. It's also my most reliable check for Technician Breloom, one of the largest threats in the OU metagame, and Keldeo, yet another powerful threat that can run through my team if it's given a chance. Originally, this slot used to be occupied by an Alakazam, but the Stealth Rock weakness started aggravating the team, so the switch had to be made. On paper, this change may have seemed suboptimal, but in practice, it all works out. Starmie had all of Alakazam's good traits (namely its high Speed and Special Attack), as well as better STAB and access to the mighty Rapid Spin, which extends Weavile's and Kyurem-B's lives on the field exponentially.
As I mentioned earlier, Starmie is this team's Rapid Spinner and resident Psychic. This gave it quite a bit of competition for the team slot. As a spinner, it faced competition from Tentacruel, Donphan, and Forretress, and as a Psychic, it faced competition from Latias, Latios, Celebi, and Jirachi. All three spinners whom Starmie had to compete with offered more of a defensive presence for the team. I ended up choosing Starmie because I liked its offensive presence, which was created by its incredible speed and respectable offenses. Versus its fellow Psychics, it had to compete with the incredible offensive prowess of the former two, and the defensive utilities of the latter two. Starmie's ability to spin while maintaining valuable offense really helped it shine through the competition for this team slot.
The moves and EVs are all standard fare for Starmie. Hydro Pump is its most powerful STAB move, and despite the questionable accuracy, it is a neccesity to use since Starmie lacks a boosting item. Psychic keeps Breloom, Keldeo, and Conkeldurr from exploiting my use of both Kyurem-B and Weavile, and is just a great STAB move in general, due to the influx of Poison- and Fighting-types in OU. Ice Beam is used due to a lack of better options as well as a desire to hit dragons and Thundurus-T super-effectively. Ice Beam also hits Gliscor and Landorus-T, Pokemon that can wall Garchomp, super-effectively, reducing the burden on my team to beat them down. Rapid Spin gets Stealth Rock off my end of the field, enhancing the durability of Kyurem-B and Weavile by ensuring that they don't have to switch into SR and Spikes. Rapid Spin, alongside Psychic, lets Starmie break the standard Deoxys-D / Gengar core, crippling many Deo-D hyper offense teams. The EVs are standard, and they maximize Starmie's Speed and Special Attack. Also, I'm considering the use of Psyshock over Psychic. Please help me decide whether or not that is a good change to make.
Starmie plays an important role as the team's Rapid Spinner, forcing me to play extremely conservatively with it, so hazards don't ravage the rest of my team. I also use Starmie alongside Garchomp to break through teams in the end-game, provided it's still alive then. More often than not though, I'll use Starmie as an offensive pivot so another teammate can obtain a free switch-in opportunity. If the process ends up KOing Starmie prematurely, then it wouldn't have died in vain, since it got its job done in the end. In that same vein, once Starmie gets its job done, I'll use it as death fodder so a teammate (usually Garchomp) can get a free switch-in opportunity and start sweeping. It's rather ironic really, since I consider one of the most important members of the team to be the most expendable. Find me a good spinner, and I'm all ears.[/BOX]
[a]bell[/a]
[BOX]Some people might object to the placement of a Bronzong, which has nil in offensive potential, in such an offensive team as this, but do not fret yet, for it has its uses. For one, Bronzong provides the Stealth Rock support this team needs to succeed. Also, Bronzong's incredible resistances lend to it the role of the obligatory defensive pivot against large threats such as Double Dance Landorus-T and Tornadus-T. Bronzong is also my main Pokemon when facing a SubProtect Gliscor, which could theoretically outstall my whole team, if it weren't for this Pokemon. Now, for set picking, there were only two viable options available: the standard tank, and the Offensive Trick Room set. I ended up choosing the standard tank set since it provided the SR support my team needed. The tank set also gave the team a much-needed pivot for switching into powerful Dragon-type attacks.
Bronzong had little competition for its team slot, since what I needed it to do could be done by little else. Its only competition for the role of tank that could wall the majority of OU came from Jirachi and Celebi, and while the former boasted access to Wish and better Speed, and the latter Heal Bell and Perish Song, Bronzong could act as a check to all of Tornadus-T, Sheer Force Landorus, Specs Latios, and LO Latias. In addition, Bronzong could actually beat physically-based dragons not named Haxorus, Stoutland, and Sawsbuck, thanks to its beefy Defense stat, something that neither Celebi nor Jirachi could boast.
The moves and EVs are the standard, and for a good reason. Stealth Rock is the obligatory entry hazard, which helps force many more KOs than if it weren't in place. Hidden Power Ice is the move that lets Bronzong beat apart Sheer Force Landorus, SubProtect Gliscor, and the many dragons of OU, keeping them from ripping my own team apart. Gyro Ball lets Bronzong punish fast Pokemon that Garchomp cannot revenge kill, such as Scarf Terrakion and Scarf Latios, and Earthquake ensures the team that Magnezone isn't helpless against opposing Magnezone. The EVs are standard, with the exception of the movement of 4 EVs from Attack to Defense, and the IVs give Bronzong a base 70 Hidden Power Ice while minimizing its speed.
Bronzong tends to make its first appearance very early on in the game to set SR and sponge attacks. The only exception to this statement can be found when facing sun teams, many of which carry Forretress, which can spin away the Stealth Rock thrown up by Bronzong, which helps support powerful Fire-types that can force Bronzong back into a corner. Sun teams also tend to lead with Ninetales, which can beat Bronzong one on one, or at least severely weaken it, reducing the viability of that option. However, against sand teams that lack Magnezone, I'll lead with Bronzong, since it can sponge almost anything thrown at it and get SR down reliably. When facing rain or weatherless hyper offense teams, Bronzong will be sent out early on, most often after Kyurem-B weakens the opponent's team, to set SR and act as a pivot so another teammate can switch in and start wreaking havoc. As the game progresses, Bronzong will still maintain its position as that of a potent tank that can handily eliminate certain threats to the team without a hitch (e.g. SubProtect Gliscor, offensive pivot Landorus-T, Sheer Force Landorus, Gengar), and in the end-game, Bronzong will be used as death fodder so a faster teammate can start ripping past the opponent's team. Bronzong is a very important member of my team, and is a very underrated defensive threat in today's OU metagame.[/BOX]
[a]f*ckin'_magnet[/a]
[BOX]Magnezone makes an appearance on this team, and it plays the exact same role that it did in Grimaniel: [powerful Choiced dragon]'s wall-breaking partner in crime. In this case, the powerful Choiced dragon happens to be Kyurem-B, which can wreck faces with its terrifying Outrage. The only Pokemon stopping Kyurem-B from tearing everything up with Outrage (barring confusion hax) are the mighty steels that can actually stand up to its Outrage. Repeat Garchomp scenario, as seen in paragrah 1, sentences 3 & 4. Afterwards, I had to decide on a set to use for it. The old SubCharge Magnezone set is no longer viable in today's metagame, since it gives too many free turns to its opponent, and hoisting a Scarf onto Magnezone is plain dumb, since that role is done better by its pre-evolution.
Magnezone's only competition for its spot on the team came from Dugtrio, Gothitelle, Wobbuffet, and Magneton. Dugtrio was fast, but none too strong, and Gothitelle was in the same boat, just with the term "fast" replaced with "specially bulky." Unlike those two, Magnezone is especially powerful, leaving that issue behind. Wobbuffet was the bulkiest of all the trappers, but it could not deal with the defensive steels effectively, an ace that Magnezone boasted over it. Magneton, its pre-evolution, was fast, modestly powerful, and could have its defenses boosted by the Eviolite, but the Eviolite forces it to forfeit its item to get more bulk, cutting into its power. That left Magnezone as the only option to use.
The moves are standard fare, for the most part. Volt Switch lets Magnezone secure momentum for the team, and Thunder gives Magnezone an electric equivalent to Specs Latios's Draco Meteor, as well as an attack which can hit annoying steels (Jirachi) in the rain. In fact, against most steels, Thunder actually hits harder than Hidden Power Fire. Hidden Power Fire is used mainly for Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Forretress, as well as the various Grass-types that like switching into Thunder or Volt Switch. Flash Cannon is Magnezone's other STAB move, and is great for nailing the various Ground-types that like switching in on Volt Switch or Thunder. The EVs are all standard, with the exception of the movement of 4 EVs from HP to Speed. This lets my Magnezone speed creep other Specs Magnezone, as well as the standard Skarmory, thanks to Hidden Power Fire's forced 30 IVs in Speed.
Magnezone typically jumps out early on in the game to trap and kill the steels that inevitably will switch in on Kyurem-B's attacks. If I'm facing a Deo-D hyper offense team, I'll use Magnezone to start grabbing momentum with Volt Switch, giving my team more favorable match-ups. In a sense, this also gives Magnezone the role of an offensive pivot, which is truly helpful for the rest of the team. Against rain teams however, I'll be more conservative with Magnezone, since most of them pack Ferrothorn, which can really ruin my team's day. In addition, Ground-types (especially Gliscor, Hippowdon, and Landorus-T) like switching into Magnezone, hoping to absorb a Thunder or Volt Switch, only to eat a Specs-boosted Flash Cannon, which will leave them weakened to a point that Garchomp can run through them with relative ease. Once Magnezone is done trapping steels, I'll play it even more recklessly than I do with Kyurem-B. I'll try to inflict copious damage and hopefully break the team to the point where Magnezone's faster teammates can clean up its mess. All in all, Magnezone is one of the most important members of the team, since it performs such an indispensible function.[/BOX]
[a]cube[/a]
[BOX]Kyurem-B is weird. It has the most powerful Outrage in the game, as well as incredible 125 / 100 / 90 defenses for a Pokemon with 170 / 120 attacking stats. So, where did it go so wrong? Its typing, movepool, and Speed. Kyurem-B's typing gives it good, but redundant STAB and a plethora of weaknesses to some of the most common attacks in OU. While not as extreme a case as Flareon, Kyurem-B's movepool is sorely lacking in options. Its only viable moves on the physical side are as follows: Outrage, Fusion Bolt, Dragon Claw, Dragon Tail, Stone Edge. Not much in terms of coverage, eh? Finally, we have what may be its largest shortcoming: its base 95 Speed. While in no way bad, a base Speed of 95 really stops Kyurem from beating out certain targets that it would like to beat. In spite of those flaws, I decided to use it as the last member of my team. Choosing a set for it was the easy part. I wanted the most immediate power available to it, so I ended up going with a Choice Band set. Every other set seemed irrelevant for this team.
Kyurem-B faced quite a bit of competition from Haxorus, Dragonite, and Terrakion for its spot on the team. Haxorus was faster, and it boasted much better coverage than Kyurem-B, but it lacked Kyurem-B's bulk, slighting my eye in that sense. Dragonite had Multiscale, giving it comparable bulk, but it wasn't fast enough to do its job, and access to ExtremeSpeed could not compensate for the loss in Speed. Terrakion, while not a Dragon, could run a very potent Choice Band set thanks to the incredible neutral coverage its STAB moves get. In the same vein as Haxorus, it lacked Kyurem-B's bulk, and had similar weaknesses, making Kyurem-B the superior choice.
The moves on Kyurem-B are the best that it can run when using a Choice Band. Outrage is power incarnate. Outrage, coming from an effective Attack stat of 723, can 3HKO many household names in Defense, such as Skarmory and Forretress, who resist it. Notable physical walls that lack a resistance to Outrage are 2HKOed at the very least. Steels that lack Defense investment are also 2HKOed by it. Fusion Bolt covers most of what Outrage doesn't, and thanks to this move, Skarmory can no longer switch into Kyurem-B reliably. Dragon Claw is used when I don't want Kyurem-B to be locked into Outrage, but I want it to use a STAB move. Sleep Talk is in the last slot because Kyurem-B is a great switch-in against Sunny Day variants of Venusaur, which often carry Sleep Powder as their last move. The HP EVs ensure that a +0 LO Breloom / Scizor cannot KO Kyurem-B with a Technician-boosted Mach Punch / Bullet Punch after one round of Stealth Rock damage, and the Attack EVs let Kyurem-B slam into the opposition at full force.
Kyurem-B is my designated lead against most teams because almost every common lead is dealt with handily. Every lead that lacks a resistance to Outrage is 2HKOed at worst, and OHKOed at best. Deoxys-D? 2HKOed by both Outrage and Dragon Claw. Sash Breloom? Kyurem-B can absorb a Spore and retaliate with Sleep Talk, bringing Breloom down to Weavile's killing range. Politoed? Kyurem-B can absorb attacks from Scarf and Specs variants all day and slam them with Fusion Bolt. Defensive versions can't do anything and are also OHKOed by Fusion Bolt. Attacking leads and steels are dealt with by the appropriate teammates, and Bronzong takes the lead position when a more defensive presence is demanded on Turn 1. Kyurem-B always makes a massive contribution towards the team's victories, and any battle that it doesn't contribute to usually ends up with me put behind the 8 ball and struggling to recover momentum. It's not impossible to pull off a victory, but it becomes much harder than if Kyurem-B helped. Really, it's rather ironic that Kyurem-B is this team's most important member, especially considering that it was thrown in just to test its strength out. Try it out. It works wonders.[/BOX]
[a]closing[/a]
Anyways, before I finish off this RMT, I'd like to thank my friends (and former tutees) Harsha and Sayonara for convincing me to get back into team rating half a year ago. I would not have hopped back into it on my own accord, and I certainly wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for them. I'd also like to thank the former for bringing my name up for the reception of the full Team Rater badge. Also, I'd like to thank Delko, Jirachee, and everyone else in #tr_rule for recognizing my efforts. You guys rock. Novaray gets a special mention here because he is a cute user and will most likely suggest that I use Donphan over Starmie as a spinner. Pocket is a great guy that helps me with C&C work, so he gets a mention here! Also, this is my Christmas gift for the RMT forum, which has kindly bestowed upon me the Team Rater badge. If you like this team, leave a Luvdisc in the top right corner. Of course, you don't have to do that,