Team Blazer

[Blazer]

Team Blazer!!!​

The Lineup

The Story​

After going through many team changes and lots of playtesting I have come to this team. It is a fairly cookie-cutter offensive team but it has a couple nice wrinkles going for it. It is my most successful team peaking at a rating of 1604 and putting me at #19 on the leaderboard. After not playing for a while I think I am probably done with this team for the most part so I guess this is a retirement of sorts (even though every now and then I play so suggestions are welcome). This is by far my favorite team I have made and offense is by far my favorite style (even though this team is a tad bit bulkier than others). This is not my first comptetitive team I have made, but it is the first team that I have felt competitive with (if that makes sense). I also feel like it is the first team that I have truely learned how to use, knowing its strengths and weaknesses. So all that said please RMT!!

Metagross@Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Hp/228 Atk/12 Def/16 Spe

-Explosion- For Bulky Leads and pokemon that may give me trouble. Usually blow up on things like Swampert and Hippo leads.
-Meteor Mash- STAB move that hurts a lot coming off 399 Atk. Occasionally gets an Attack boost which is nice.
-Bullet Punch- Priority move to finish off sash pokemon.
-Stealth Rock- Essential for my team, weakens stuff like Gyarados, Salamence, and Zapdos on the switch and just helps an
offensive team loads in general.

EVs- 252 Hp and 12 Def for gerneral overall bulk and to survive a CB Dugtrio EQ. 16 Speed to outrun other Metagross and
Maxspeed Adamant Rhyperior (it was only one point more so I figured I'd go for it). The rest in attack for power.

Description- Overused lead by now that is slightly losing its effectiveness. Doesn't dominate the way it used to when everyone and their mother used Azelf and Aerodactyl. However it is still a nice sturdy lead that can last further into the game and makes a nice switch into dragon attacks. Lum Berry to take out frail status leads. Even though as a lead Metagross is not as unexpected or effective it still works great with the synergy of the team and is a very useful member.

Gyarados@Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Hp/224 Def/32 Spe

-Waterfall- Main STAB move. Used over Aqua Tail for accuracy and flinch rate which is nice after a DD or two.
-Dragon Dance- Used to raise attack and speed, makes Gyara a threat to sweep as well as wall.
-Rest- Restore HP and clear status. Lots of people try to Toxic/WoW/Twave this guy and he really doesn't care due to rest.
-Sleep Talk- Used to remain a threat after snoozing.

EVs- 32 Speed to outrun +Speed Base 90s such as Lucario and Porygon-Z. The rest in HP and Defense to take physical attacks.

Description- This guy is amazing. Does an amazing job of walling Scizor to hell and back and is my main switch into a plethora of other threats such as Heatran and Lucario. I don't even care about Toxic from SubTran as rest gets rid of that. Even though it is my main defensive poke it does occasionally sweep once Celebi/Bulky Water is taken away which is why I keep DD even though I have fiddled with other moves (Twave, Stone Edge, Avalanche).

Jolteon@Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
EVs: 252 SpA, 252 Spe

-Thunderbolt- STAB that completely wrecks shit that doesn't resist it. Electric is a great attacking type and is deadly with
Jolteon's speed coming off 478 Special Attack.
-Shadow Ball- Used mainly for Celebi and Latias. Electric and Ghost provide pretty good coverage. Also nice to hit
Cresselia with.
-Hidden Power Grass- THIS HITS SWAMPERT (and other grounds and such that may choose to switch in used over ice though
to get the hit on Swampert and Mamo).
-Baton Pass- Used to scout counters, nice because it allows me to see whats coming in and switch in what is necessary to take
it out.

EVs- Fairly simple, Max speed to take advantage of the thing that makes Jolteon so deadly his 130 base speed stat. Max
Special attack to hit as hard as possible.

Description- Ahh SpecsJolt. The main sweeper of the team. With that 130 base speed stat he outruns pretty much everything, including some scarfers. Ideally I weaken the opposing team to the point where all I have to do is bring this guy in and spam Thunderbolt to win. Also my only electric resist so that is important for taking on other Jolteon or electric attackers.

Scizor@Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 246 Hp/252 Atk/12 Spe

-Superpower- Used to take out things like Magnezone and Heatran that try to switch in. Also useful for KOing Snorlax and
Blissy.
-U-turn- Amazing move that can be used for scouting and dealing out damage. Kills Celebi and Starmie who for some reason
stay in and punishes switch-ins like Gyarados and Zapdos who are already taking SR damage.
-Bullet Punch- Technician + STAB + CB + 130 Base Attack + Priority= AMAZING. Great move that revenge kills shit like
Salamence, Tyranitar, and other threats. Can sweep with this alone once certain pokemon have been eliminated.
-Pursuit- Yay for trapping. Great for hitting fleeing Celebi and Starmie. Killing ScarfGar locked into Shadowball or HP Ice
is also a treat. My personal favorite however is taking out SpecsJolt locked into Shadowball, clearing the way for my own
Jolteon.

EVs- 252 Attack for max power. 12 Speed to outspeed other Bulky Scizor and things that may be EVed to outspeed min speed
Scizor. The rest in HP for bulk.

Description- CB Scizor is an amazing utility pokemon to have on an offensive team. Obviously Bullet Punch is the main perk, being a nice way to revenge kill stuff. However Pursuit and U-turn are also amazing. Scouting things with U-turn is a great way to keep the pressure on the opponent while dealing damage and Pursuit eliminates pokemon stopping my others from sweeping. Oh yeah, and having another dragon resist is always nice.

Salamence@Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Naive
EVs: 16 Atk/240 SpA/252 Spe

-Draco Meteor- The move I rely on most. Does huge amounts of damage to physical walls who switch in expecting a DD.
-Fire Blast- Picked over flamethrower for added power, especially against Celebi. I want Salamence dealing as much damage
as possible so thats why FB > FT.
-Outrage- Generally used after a DM or two and my Special Attack has been reduced to nothing. Normally used as a "Im about
to die to why not" move.
-Brick Break- Picked over EQ for more damage on Blissy (without getting locked in) and for screens which I hate. Still
Heatran is annoying and definitely considering EQ.

EVs- Max Speed to at worst tie with other base 100s. The rest put into Salamence's attacking stats.

Description- This guy is my MVP. Even though Jolteon gets most of the late game sweeps, Salamence is dishing out the majority of the damage. I noticed that when this guy nets me a couple kills, I normally win but if he gets taken
out or crippled early on, its tough for me to recover.

Azelf@Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Naive
EVs: 36 Atk/220 SpA/252 Spe

-Explosion- BOOM to take out Blissy/Snorlax/anything else i may have trouble with.
-Psychic- STAB move that does good damage coming off Azelf's high Special Attack, takes care of infernape nicely.
-Flamethrower- For steels that resist psychic. If Mence goes down its nice to have another pokemon with a fire move to
hit steels with
-U-turn- Underrated move on Azelf. Hits Darks and Psychics (two common switching types) for super effective damage. Hits
Latias for over 60%, letting me swtich out afterward to Gross or Scizor to take the Dragon attack. Even hits Tyranitar for
around 40% depending on how it is EVed.

EVs- Max speed to at least tie with other 115s. 36 attack to power Explosion and U-turn with the rest in Special Attack.

Description- I figured two wall breakers is better than one, so I went with Azelf. Revenge kills Infernape and Gengar which is always nice. Explosion is always a good move to have on a team and since Azelf lures out special walls like Blissy and Snorlax it can explode on them allowing Jolteon to sweep. I'm considering Expert Belt over Life Orb for extra lasting power and HP ground over U-turn to take on Heatran.



Trouble Pokemon:
Kingra- DD versions aren't too bad as getting locking into outrage is never fun, but Rain Dance versions kill me.
Empoleon- Agility sweeper is deadly, Gyarados can handle it especially when it is at low health after getting the Petaya
boost, but I normally lose a poke in the process.
ScarfTran- This thing destroys me if Gyarados is dead or weak enough from SR damage.

 

[panamaxis]

Azelf definitely wants: Flamethrower Psychic Explosion and HP ground. This deals with heatan, scizor (just explode on t-tar), Gyarados should be offensive,

otherwise good.

 

[Solidus]

If you're trying to outrun other Metagross for the sole reason of setting up SR quicker, then fine. However considering that you lack Earthquake you don't have a reliable way to harm other Gross so outrunning him without having a way to harm will be in vein. Also a bit similar with Heatran and Infernape leads who will give you much grief due to the fact that Metagross lacks an Occa Berry. Depending on if he's specifically there for a lead or to be brought out later in the game, drop Bullet Punch or Meteor Mash for Earthquake and slap on an Occa Berry; status inflicting leads are less common than Heatran/Infernape/Azelf, all of whom possess Fire Blast on a usual basis.

With a team as offensive as this, you'd probably be better going with a standard DD Gyarados or if you still want to maintain defensive capabilities while having formidable offensiveness you may want to go with a bulkyGyara (Waterfall / Dragon Dance / Stone Edge / Taunt) which still gives you the ability to prevent yourself from being phazed and status'd via Taunt. Just a possible option to consider.

To be honest I see those extra Speed EV's on Scizor only benefiting you if a mirror match happened being that whoever lands a Superpower faster will come out on top. In other situations those 12 EV's are useless.

You seem to be taking more of a special approach on Salamence rather than offensive, but those hard hitting Draco Meteors only last 1-2 turns due to the insane decreases. Have you ever considered putting a bit more EV's into attack? Investing in at least 80 attack EV's will allow you to 2HKO Blissey/Heatran with Brick Break assuming SR is in play, and those two pretty much wall Salamence otherwise.

With a helpful team of three scouters, dropping U-Turn for Hidden Power Ground will more than likely be a liability due to you gaining coverage only against Heatran. You could try it out though and see how it works. Azelf is pretty versatile, so you could maybe even lead with it and put Metagross in the back and give him an AgiliGross movespread. This gives you a way to handle Heatran and Empoleon. It might work, might not but that's just a last resort if you get desperate. If you do decide to do that, run a minimum of 132 Speed EV's which puts you at 318 Speed after one Agility, allowing you to outrun ScarfTran.

Hope this helps. =)

 

[Blazer]

The Speed EVs also allow me to Explode on other Metagross who may be using EQ if I just want to be done with them that way. The speed is also nice for exploding on Magnezone who only invest enough to outspeed min speed Gross.

I feel like I have a better way to deal with Fire leads like Tran and Ape better than I do Status leads like Breloom and Roserade. I can generally switch to Gyarados and force them out or something but I have nothing that can switch into a status lead and they are common enough to start me off at a big disadvantage.

Yeah the speed on Scizor is similar to the speed on Gross, I figure one or two more points in HP isn't going to help too much and you never know when an extra speed point would be nice.

As for Gyarados going offensive. I have tried offensive Gyarados and I was never able to sweep with it. I was always using it in a defensive manner saving myself from Ape and Tran. While I understand that offensive teams must keep the pressure on the opponent I just never found offensive Gyara doing much for this team. Perhaps I will test a bulky spread to be able to take attacks easier, definitely something with Taunt as I adore that move.

The only reason I don't go right ahead and change U-turn to HP Ground on Azelf right away is because of all the Scarftran that I can't touch unless I hit it on the switch. U-turn is great for more than just Ttar it rapes Latias, hits Blissy hard with having to explode risking protect, and does nice damage to random darks and psychcs that think they wall me.

I have considered a more Attack oriented Spread on Salamence. I'm guessing something like 80 Atk/252 SpA/176 Spe would give me some more power on my attacks and still let me outrun a good amount of stuff. I probably should not be risking the speed tie with other Mences and stuff anyway (which max speed entices me to do occasionally). I think I might give that spread a go. I was also thinking of running roost on the set over Outrage, any thoughts?

 

[Teh (old)]

Drop Brick break for Roost, or drop Outrage for Roost. Outrage hits harder, but Brick Break doesn't lock you in. Also, Brick Break doesn't hit hard without the supereffective strike.

However, there is another option. I've been trying out a Draco Meteor/ Dragon Claw/ Dragon Dance/ EQ combo with the Dragon Fang and I find it very effective, and less of a short lived threat than a Life Orb variant. I run 280 Spd, 336 Atk and 340 SAtk with a Naughty Nature. Maybe that could work better. =)

 

[Blazer]

Both Roost and Outrage seem to be fairly situational, but I am liking Roost a lot at the moment along with the EV change to give more attack. I have not missed maxed speed on Mence too much. I don't think I would change to a DD set though, and I would, I would probably use the standard set instead of the one Teh proposed.
Still not sure which move is more useful. I have even considered going with EQ as a forth move to OHKO as it is always annoying.

 

[animenagai]

Azelf definitely wants: Flamethrower Psychic Explosion and HP ground. This deals with heatan, scizor (just explode on t-tar), Gyarados should be offensive,

otherwise good.

I remember building a team with hip and he had a grass knot, explosion, hp ground, flamethrower azelf. Yep, no psychic. HIs argument was simply 'what does psychic hit that these move don't?". I've been thinking about this again and again, and the only threat I can come up with where psychic would be optimal is machamp. Might be useful information, albeit a weird set.

Full rate later.

 

[panamaxis]

@animenagai: Zapdos / machamp / togekiss / vaporeon (grass knot does hardly anything) / Aerodactyl / Dragonite / Salamence / kingdra / Flygon / Gengar / Gyarados / Porygon-Z / Porygon-2 / Snorlax / Tentacruel / Heracross / Gliscor / Dusknoir / Rotom / Dugtrio (its really light isn't it?) / Breloom / Blissey (although you won't beat it with psychic).

are all hit harder by Psychic in OU. you can just psychic / explode on Bulky waters and explosion does more then grass knot too tyranitar.