Trio Duo

[satistician]

So there I was, continuously losing with whatever team I managed to build, eventually coming to the conclusion that I must simply suck at the game. What I mean is, even IF I ever came upon a solid team, I still would probably lose any day. Well that's logical, of course. Well that was simply supposed to introduce me as a newbie, and with that in mind, please rate my team :)

Metagross @ Lum Berry
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Explosion
- Earthquake
- Meteor Mash
- Stealth Rock

Metagross is my lead. A bulky peace of steel and I haven't seen him OHKOd on the first turn ever. So this guy's purpose is to set up SR and take care of a possible easy target. Were immediate threats to occur, explosion is my friend here, taking care of curse snorlax for example. Earthquake and meteor smash are just a good bunch of attacks, meteor smash being the favorable STAB option.


Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Recover

Starmie is the survivor of the early- and midgame. Metagross is probably in the deep slumbers of... something near to death and spiritomb has just used rest to cure everything. This guy spins away the entry hazards and slowly hurts the opponent's pokemon along with spiritomb's wll-o-wisp.


Spiritomb (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 228 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pursuit
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Spiritomb is my spinblocker and burner. It can take care of Gengars and Starmies with pursuit and recover itself with rest. Sleeptalk is there to not make him a free kill, since he's not all that bulky at the end of the world.


Gliscor (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 HP / 196 SDef / 60 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Baton Pass
- Swords Dance
- Taunt
- Agility

Gliscor is the (preferable) lead of my late squad (more about this in the description at the bottom). He's supposed to come in at a good moment during the late game and make some swords dance. Gliscor, Ninjask and Lucario are all equipped with focus sash since I really want them to survive the switch in. Taunt is a helpful factor when there's a blissey or a skarmory (or other phazers) on the opponent's side of the field. When this guy's pretty much ready, batonpass to Ninjask.


Ninjask (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 224 HP / 224 Def / 60 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Baton Pass
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Protect

Ninjask is very straight forward. After he at least survives the switch in, protect to get a speed boost. If HP's not completely down, substitute can be used to get two more (protect, then substitute, then protect again). If luck's on my side, I might be able to pull off a swords dance. When done (or in deep shit), batonpass to lucario.


Lucario (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Close Combat
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Vacuum Wave

Lucario wont come in without batonpass. No. It wont. He's generally my only receiver, since Metagross is probably dead already. The SAtk EVs are maxed out since I can't batonpass nasty plot with this team. Lucario will survive the switch in due to focus sash (assuming Starmie did his damn job) and can proceed to sweep to victory.

So what the heck am I doing? Well my idea was to build two teams out of six pokemon, let's call them the lead squad and the late squad.

The lead squad consists of Metagross, Starmie and Spiritomb, Metagross being the lead pokemon. So Metagross gets the SR up and running (he's kind of slow, but he's never gotten 2HKOd, nor OHKOd at the spot), deals with a possible easy target, then (usually) switches to Starmie to kill or spin. Spiritomb is, of course, the spinblocker. I chose Spiritomb over Dusknoir and Gengar because of the lack of weaknesses. With Dusknoir or Gengar, dark type attacks would become a certain doom of the lead squad. Anyway. The purpose of the lead squad is to SR, scout and kill a few threats. Then comes the late squad.

The late squad is a batonpass team. Preferably, Gliscor comes in first at the appropriate moment, get's at least some swords dances, then batonpasses to Ninjask. Ninjask is pretty straight forward: Stall with substitutes and protect to build speed, then finally batonpass to Lucario. The whole late squad is supplied with focus sashes because their job is to survive at least round 1 each and batonpass away. Lucario then proceeds to destroy.

Something's missing.

EDIT: Forgot to mention: This is 4th generation only.

 

[RoyalBlue]

I understand your disappointment and frustration but don't be discouraged! I have some changes that I'd like to suggest to you though. Ninjask is absolutely terrible as a late game poke (mainly used as a lead). I suggest you actually run volcarona since it has amazing coverage against other teams and can come in on an ice attack that was targeted on gliscor.

Also you should run toxic orb if you don't want it to die since it usually doesn't get ohko unless its some boosted attack or ice type attack. This improves its survivability as well as keeping that durability that you wanted. And doe t have to rely on starmis getting its job done.

And for lucario, I suggest you run a pure physical set with 2 priority moves in bullet punch and extreme speed that can be very helpful in late game. Just don't switch it in on a super effective move. Swords dance can allow it to boost its attack to great amounts and with priority then the opponent is done. Cc is good for stab as well.

Also, I suggest you don't use a spirtiomb as a spin locker cuz like you said, it doesn't exactly take hits super well. Replace it with gengar maybe since it can help offensively.

Sets:

Volcarona @Expert Belt
Trait:Flame Body
Modest
252 SpA/252 Spe/4 HP
Bug Buzz
Fiery Dance
Giga Drain
Roost

Gliscor@Toxic Orb
Trait:Poison Heal
Jolly
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 Def
Protect
Earthquake
Ice Fang
U-Turn

Lucario@Life Orb
Trait:Adamant
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 Spd
Extreme Speed
Bullet Punch
Close Combat
Swords Dance

 

[satistician]

I understand your disappointment and frustration but don't be discouraged! I have some changes that I'd like to suggest to you though. Ninjask is absolutely terrible as a late game poke (mainly used as a lead). I suggest you actually run volcarona since it has amazing coverage against other teams and can come in on an ice attack that was targeted on gliscor.

Also you should run toxic orb if you don't want it to die since it usually doesn't get ohko unless its some boosted attack or ice type attack. This improves its survivability as well as keeping that durability that you wanted. And doe t have to rely on starmis getting its job done.

And for lucario, I suggest you run a pure physical set with 2 priority moves in bullet punch and extreme speed that can be very helpful in late game. Just don't switch it in on a super effective move. Swords dance can allow it to boost its attack to great amounts and with priority then the opponent is done. Cc is good for stab as well.

Also, I suggest you don't use a spirtiomb as a spin locker cuz like you said, it doesn't exactly take hits super well. Replace it with gengar maybe since it can help offensively.

No no, I'm not frustrated or anything of the sort. I'm still just learning the ropes :) As for the suggestions, are they supposed to simply change the pokemons in the "late squad" or do they actually break that bondage and make the six pokemon work as a whole? Sorry for the complicated question, let me simplify: My current team consists of two different teams at the moment. After the changes you suggested, will that mold still hold or are they supposed to work all together? I know my original plan was a bit dumb :D kept me awake at the very least ^_^

EDIT: OH!! I completely forgot to mention. This is 4th generation only.

 

[RoyalBlue]

Ohhh, gen 4 eh? I'm not that familiar with gen 4 anymore. Sorry. But I definitely suggest you not to do a baton pass team if you want it late game.