Team Synergy

[lol permanent name]

When I first started building this team, I looked for pokemon with a lot of resistances and then grouped them together so that I would always be able to take as many hits as possible while dealing high amounts of damage. So far it has had quite a bit of success.

TEAM AT A GLANCE:

IN DEPTH:

(CHANGES IN BOLD)
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Sableye @ Life Orb
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
- Fake Out
- Shadow Sneak
- Sucker Punch
- Will-O-Wisp
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Description:
I know what you're thinking, Sableye sucks gratuitous amounts of cock, right? Wrong. Fake out on the first turn, then Shadow Sneak while my opponent attempts to set up, and then usually Sucker Punch for the KO. This set may appear to be walled by steal and dark types, but Tyranitar, Weavile, Metagross (who might as well be resistant to SS and SP because of his defense), Hippowdon (who is in the same boat as Metagross), Skarmory, and many others all hate being burned, and then I can then switch this guy out and save him for later. This is one of my favorite pokemon on this team because absolutely no one knows what to do when they see a Sableye lead.


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Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Nature: Impish
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Toxic
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Description:
I don't really think that this guy needs explaining. He comes in on countless physical sweepers and laughs in their face, or just lowers their attack so I can switch to a different counter. My first spinner and my main physical wall. Close Combat does major damage to Blissey, who doesn't really care about anything else this team can do to her. Toxic wears down Cresselia and any other floating walls.


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Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Nature: Calm
- Toxic
- Protect
- Toxic Spikes
- Surf
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Description:
This guy also needs very little explaining. He serves as my main special sponge, as well as a good Toxic Staller. EVs are standard, moveset is not. There really isn't much else I can say about this guy.


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Flygon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 148 Spe / 108 SpA
Nature: Naive
- Earthquake
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- U-turn
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Description:
This guy is also pretty self-explanatory. The Spe EVs allow him to reach 301, to outspeed Salamence and other base 100 Spe pokemon who use a neutral nature. This is important because this will usually allow him to outspeed and kill him with Draco Meteor. This guy can absorb Ground, Fire, Electric, and Rock attacks (Although Hitmontop will almost always be the one to switch into a Stone Edge) that hit the other pokemon on this team for super effective damage.


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Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Nature: Sassy
- Body Slam
- Ice Punch
- U-turn
- Wish
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Description:
Body Slam for the 60% paralysis rate, Ice Punch for Ground types and Dragons, as well as the handy 20% freeze rate. Wish and U-Turn are good for passing a 50% health boost and also give Jirachi the ability to heal itself. Wish helps to relieve Moltres of the 50% damage it takes from Stealth Rock, although it will rarely take that damage thanks to the two spinners I have. U-Turn is a valuable move because it allows Jirachi to take a hit instead of the pokemon it is passing wish to. 0 Spe IVs is so that Jirachi is more likely to move last when passing wish with U-Turn.


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Moltres @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 HP
Nature: Modest
- Overheat
- Air Slash
- HP (Ground)
- Roost
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Description:
This guy can really do some serious damage. A Life Orb/STAB Overheat from 383 SpA can do major damage to pretty much anything not names Blissey, while Air Slash, with its handy 30% Flinch rate, is nothing to laugh at either. Just like Flygon, this guy resists both of Jirachi's weaknesses, while also boasting several other helpful resistances such as Steel and Fighting, and x.25 resistances in Grass and Bug. HP (Ground) is for Heatran / Tyranitar who think they can wall Moltres.


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So there it is, Team Synergy. If you see anything that needs changing, or have any suggestions then feel free to post. Oh and yes, I am well aware of the fact that I have 3 Leftovers users and 3 Life Orb users, it just worked out that way.

 

[fslucario64]

Im not really good at rating teams, but i just want to say a couple things.
Im wondering, isnt the max speed for a neutral nature base 100s 299 not 300 which would mean you can use 148 speed evs instead?

Also a typo is on the ability for flygon :p

One other thing is moltres has 4 attack evs, no physical attacks, and isnt air slash a special move?

 

[lol permanent name]

Hmm thanks, I guess I mixed up their actual speed with the speed needed to outspeed them, and moltres used to have U-Turn instead of Roost and so I must have forgotten to change the EVs.

 

[les gets]

You might as well use Spiritomb for your lead, if you ask me.

Unfortunately you are raped by mixmence, especially since your tentacruel doesn't run ice beam.

You have two spinners? Haven't seen that lately, lol. Not sure you need another Hitmontop since you have tentacruel for with toxic spikes and rapin spin. If you're worried about levitators and flyers, give someone else on your team toxic, like moltres or something.

Azelf with psychic / flamethrower / thunderbolt / xxx will definitely suck for you.

Sorry, that's all the time I have. :(
gl with your team.

 

[lol permanent name]

You might as well use Spiritomb for your lead, if you ask me.

Unfortunately you are raped by mixmence, especially since your tentacruel doesn't run ice beam.

You have two spinners? Haven't seen that lately, lol. Not sure you need another Hitmontop since you have tentacruel for with toxic spikes and rapin spin. If you're worried about levitators and flyers, give someone else on your team toxic, like moltres or something.

Azelf with psychic / flamethrower / thunderbolt / xxx will definitely suck for you.

Sorry, that's all the time I have. :(
gl with your team.

Spiritomb lacks Fake Out, which allows be to actually hurt dark types before I burn them, as well as ensuring kills on frail psychic leads and frustrating my opponent. It also has the surprise factor, seeing as most people don't know what the fuck to expect from a Sableye.

Hitmontop and Tentacruel both stay, because Moltres absolutely needs spin support, and they are both useful to me in other ways as well.

So far I've run into a problem in not having a status absorber. Any reccomendations for this?

 

[les gets]

Spiritomb lacks Fake Out, which allows be to actually hurt dark types before I burn them, as well as ensuring kills on frail psychic leads and frustrating my opponent. It also has the surprise factor, seeing as most people don't know what the fuck to expect from a Sableye.

Hitmontop and Tentacruel both stay, because Moltres absolutely needs spin support, and they are both useful to me in other ways as well.

So far I've run into a problem in not having a status absorber. Any reccomendations for this?

Tentacruel can take poision, Flygon can take paralysis, Moltres can take burn...but you have no sleep-taker, which means you need a rest/talker or lum berry user, and if you pick the former, who cares about what I've already said, lol.

I'm assuming those frail psychic leads you're talking about include azelf and alakazam...any more?

 

[VKCA]

Just a quick little thing, you might want to put a couple speed evs on sable eye to outspeed min speed tyranitar (standard lead) so you can burn him before you get hit.

 

[Darkmalice]

I agree with Cost. Spiritomb is better than Sableye. Fake Out's damage output is pitiful and negligible, and so is the free turn gained from it. Shadow Sneak does more damage, especially against the frail Psychic Pokemon and Gengar. You will appreciate Spiritomb's higher base stats, higher attack but even more importantly, better bulk. Sableye will be 2HKOed by Metagross' Meteor Mash, including the Burn on the second hit, whilst Spiritomb won't. Sableye may also be 2HKOed by Meteor Mash + Burn Bullet Punch also has a chance to 2HKO, which is guaranteed with one turn of LO recoil. Spiritomb can have Pain Split instead of Fake Out as a form of recovery.

This team can do little against fast Pokemon, especially DD boosted Gyarados. Salamence also easily beats this team thanks to Earthquake (Jirachi's Ice Punch doesn't do enough damage). Even Nasty Plot Azelf does a big number on your team.

Replace Jirachi with Vaporeon. Here's a Gyarados counter that provides Wish support. I'll make changes to account for the typing change in the Wish Passing.

Replace Moltres with MixMence. Moltres is completely walled by Tyranitar. Draco Meteor is arguably more powerful than Overheat thanks to only being resisted by Steels, and it has Earthquake to punish Heatran should it attempt to get a Flash Fire Boost. Also, Salamence isn't screwed over by Stealth Rock.

Replace Tentacruel with Choice Band Scizor. Two Rapid Spinners is overkill. A Steel type is needed for the team to resist Dragon; Scizor can check Salamence, and provide great team synergy with U-turn and Pursuit. Bullet Punch is also great against the many speed freaks that your team would otherwise have problems against.

Hitmontop should remain on your team, because it makes a very effective Tyranitar and Lucario counter.

Flygon should be a Choice variant. It covers Vaporeon's Electric weakness, so it can easily receive a Wish, reducing the need for Roost. Draco Meteor is sported by Salamence. Flygon appreciate's the attack boost to provide OHKOs against Metagross and some Jirachi variants with Earthquake. Fire Blast is also a needed move, because without it and Salamence, Steel types become very problematic, especially Skarmory who would wall this whole team.

 

[lol permanent name]

well....I'm deciding to try Spiritomb so I don't turn into that douche that doesn't take anyone's suggestions and pretends he knows everything. I do, however, want to keep Moltres because it takes Will-O-Wisps for my team and has the potential to be quite deadly. I'm thinking about switching Roar for HP Fighting or Ground, to cover Heatran and Tyranitar, although I would probably go with Ground seeing as Hitmontop already counters Tyranitar quite effectively. I will be testing Salamence, but unless I see a huge inprovement over Moltres, I don't really see that change occuring.

I will try your Vaporeon/Scizor combo over Tentacruel and Jirachi, but for now, I'm just going to make a few minor changes. I'm going to swap out Rapid Spin and Knock Out on Tentacruel for Toxic/Protect, which gives me the option to just hit my opponent with Toxic instead of having to spend two turns laying down Toxic Spikes. Protect allows me to toxic stall efficiently, and also has the benifit of letting me know what attack is coming so I can switch into a pokemon that resists it.

That leaves me with Jirachi, who I've decided wants more of an offensive EV spread to deal more damage with Ice Punch. 252 Atk EVs mean that Jirachi will always OHKO Salamence as long as they don't have any HP or Atk EVs (which most don't), dealing at a minimum 322 damage. The remaining EVs give Jirachi an extra point in SpD.