SHINE ON, TANGROWTH!{FIXED} (OU RMT)

[JarardoMartino]

First, I apologize for the font tags on my previous post of this team. I was copying and pasting from a word doc I made but I fixed the problem so on with the rating!

Changes in bold.

Razor Bros. say: “SHINE ON, TANGROWTH!”

AT A GLANCE

With Heart Gold on its way to the U.S. in the Spring, I wanted to prepare a team to breed and train in it. I tried to make it balanced but I still have some predicaments in which to get tangrowth out with sunny day. The rest, I think looks fairly stable. Then again, I’m still a little fresh to competitive battling.

Team Construction

I firsted started out with my favorite, Gliscor. He is strong and defensive. I didn’t want to make him the star of the team just because he is my favorite but he is a good lead.

I then added Tangrowth. I used him in platinum and I liked Chlorophyll but I knew it was a waste giving him sunny day and solar beam. In this Team, I’m going to have him as my Physical Sweeper.

I proceeded to add a special sweeper. Once again, I had one in platinum and I liked the standard set. Problem was, I didn’t know how to get the right Hidden Power I wanted so I figured I’d use Icy Wind instead.

Going with a Johto pokemon, I thought the physically inclined Scizor would be best. I soon found out MANY people thought that as well when I observed the 1# usage for him. He seemed beast but I didn’t like losing power to Superpower.

Sticking with the HG SS theme I was going with for the time, I picked the SpD wall Umbreon. Being a baton passer, I thought he would be good to pass a sunny day to Tangrowth.

The sixth slot eluded me because it seemed I wouldn’t find a good fit for the team so I realized I had to make a change. I liked speed and attack a lot and scizor other attacks were slow without choice band, which I am not a fan of. Then I looked at Weavile… I read an article here about how to utilize a new addition to his arsenal, Low Kick. It really appealed to me and by the time I was reading the article, my fan fare for Scizor wore off and I went with the second pokemon to evolve with one of the razor items (hence the Razor Bros. in the title).

With Weavile, I had to frail sweepers and Gengar’s Hidden Power was bugging the hell out of me. I needed more Fire power; literally. But I didn’t want to use Heatran because of the ground weakness. I wanted gengar’s benefits with a fire move. Then it hit me, like a small spectral oven: Rotom-H!

I then noticed I had 3 bug weaknesses which is not good because of Scizor and everyone loves U-Turn. I turned to Umbreon and noticed it wasn’t much of a special defense wall and HP was left to be desired. I then annexed him for the nurse. I lost the bug weakness and had a safer spd wall to switch into the battle.

I then finally solved my sixth member problem for the time being. Gliscor is best paired with waters for ice blocking. I liked the idea of full resistance better so I stumbled upon Empoleon. He has many resistances and has a considerable amount of bulk. Thus, my team was complete.

Turns out, I was wrong when I said my team was complete. Mix-ape totally destroyed blissey and empoleon. Since Empoleon was kinda thrown in, I took some adivce from frogbandit and swapped in vaporeon who's wish support was really something my team needed

Gliscor aka GliscorFTW
Item@ Leftovers
Ability: Sandveil
Nature: Impish
EVs
252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Moveset
-Roost
-U-Turn
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake

My favorite pokemon, my man Gliscor! Gliscor’s role as lead is to set up stealth rock and take on anyone it can. I’ve been going back in forth on deciding between U-turn and Aerial Ace. U-T STAB earthquake is a solid attacking move and Roost is a reliable recovery move that can turn Ice’s damageX4 into damageX2. I chose Sand Veil over Hyper Cutter because the popularity of T-tar and hippowdon could ruin Tangrowth’s sweeping so I made Gliscor prepared to turn a negative into a positive.

Weavile aka Dokken
Item@ Expert Belt
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Jolly
EVs
40 HP/ 252 Atk/ 216Spe
Moveset
-Pursuit
-Ice Punch
-Brick Break
-Ice Shard

He’s Back for the Attack! Revenge killing is quite suited for speedy Weavile. Pursuit gets fleeing psychics and ghost and Ice Punch for a more powerful STAB attack. Brick Break gets steels, rocks, and Blissey. Ice Shard is a prioty stab the can hit hard Aero, who naturally outspeeds him. Expert Belt was chosen over Life Orb because of Weavile’s fraility.

Rotom H aka Mr. Coffee
Item@ Wise Glasses
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest
EVs
4 HP/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Moveset
-Overheat
-Thunderbolt
-Shadow Ball
-Will-o-Wisp

Rotom H is my primary special attacker with reasonable defenses despite low HP. Its to STAB moves hit hard and I like Thunderbolt's power. I needed some serious fire power (literally) and Gengar was just too frail and and I didn’t wanna keep screwing around to get hidden power fire. Rotom H can do what I wanted Gengar to do with less speed and more defense and Overheat. Plus I wanted more people on my team to get a boost from the sun (not that Overheat is a move that needs boosting). I’m confounded with the last move slot. Will-o-Wisp cripples physical attackers.

Blissey aka BubbaBunch
Item@ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
EVs
252 Def / 40 SpA / 216 SpD
Moveset
-SoftBoiled
-Ice Beam
-Toxic
-Aromatherapy

I needed some extra cushion in the SpD department and Blissey filled the spot. Aromatherapy can really heal my team members when the time calls. Toxic wears down the foes if i decide to stall. Ice Beam is there so I'm not totally screwed when taunted. Because of its ridiculous HP SpD, it’s not hard to get her in when I need her.

Tangrowth aka Whiplash
Item@ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Nature: Jolly
EVs
24 HP/ 252 Atk/ 228Spe
Moveset
-Sleep Powder
-Rock Slide
-Power Whip
-Earthquake

Chlorophyll + Sunny Day+ Tangrowth= a speedy bulky physical sweeper. With the sun out, Tangrowth shines to higher heights by outspeeding most competitors and pummel them into a pulp. I made sure he had enough speed to beat his arch-nemesis, Heatran @ CB and Earthquake that sucker. I was initially going for the un-resisted Brick Break/Power Whip/Rock Slide combo but I realized that I didn’t have much need for brick break and earthquake hits steel types a lot harder and rock slide does the same amount of damage to Skarmory as brick break would have done. Sleep Powder puts counters to sleep.

Vaporeon aka ???
Item@ Heat Rock
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Bold
EVs
188 HP / 252 Def / 68 Spe
Moveset
-Wish
-Protect
-Sunny Day
-Surf


Gliscor likes waters to absorb ice beams for neutral damage. I thought it would be even better to have a water that resists ice. I tried Empoleon but, he only contributed to my Mixape weakness. Wish support is awesome in healing on the switch and vaporeom packs sunny day. Protect can help for stall and Surf deals with the flaming monkey.

Final Look

Well, thats my team. Feel free to critique in any way that may benefit it.

THREAT LIST

Azelf: Gliscor U-turns and Weavile Ice Shards for the kill.

Breloom: Rotom-H

Celebi: Weavile, Rotom-H

Dugtrio: Weavile, Tangrowth

Electivire: Rotom-H might activate motor drive, but Gliscor can absorb t-punches and EQ. Tangrowth can stand up to Physically inclined Electivire in the sun and EQ as well

Empoleon: Tangrowth in the sun should do fine.

Flygon: Weavile

Gengar: Weavile, Rotom-H

Gliscor: Weavile

Gyarados: Rotom-H

Heatran: Gliscor. Tangrowth in the Sun

Heracross: Gliscor walls an Rotom-H Overheats

Infernape: Vaporeon

Jirachi: Gliscor or Tangrowth (in the sun) should be able to EQ her.

Kingdra: Not entirely sure since I lack dragon attacks but I’m confident with Tangrowth in the sun. Plus there is Rotom-H’s T-bolt.

Latias: Weavile

Lucario: Gliscor walls and Earthquakes. Might go with a Jolly over Impish to outspeed but I don’t know if that’s a good idea.

Machamp: This guy could be trouble. Gliscor walls fighting attacks well. I suppose that Rotom-H can will-o-wisp him and take him out but I’m not entirely sure.

Magnezone: I’m not sure if tangrowth outspeeds in the sun and I don’t wanna risk hitting HP Fire. Gliscor and Tangrowth can earthquake, Rotom-H can Overheat and Weavile brick breaks.

Mamoswine: Gliscor I think can take an ice shard. Vaporeon can surf him down and Rotom-H can OverHeat and/or Will-o-wisp.

Metagross: Gliscor and Tangrowth in the sun can Earthquake himm.

Ninjask: Weavile could Ice shard but I’m not sure what else I could do.

Porygon-Z: Weavile outspeeds and brick breaks

Rhyperior: Weavile, Gliscor, Tangrowth, Vaporeon

Roserade: Rotom-H

Rotom-A: Weavile can’t pursuit them well cause of their defenses. Maybe Night slash? Maybe my own Rotom-H could go head to head but I’m not sure.

Salamence: Weavile, Rotom-H

Scizor: Rotom-H

Snorlax: One of the reasons I wanted Low kick on weavile but since Bliss is more common, Brick break should do fine

Starmie: Weavile, Rotom-H

Suicune: Tangrowth in the sun, Rotom-H

Togekiss: Rotom-H, Weavile

Tyranitar: Gliscor uses sandstream to his advantage and uses earthquake

Weavile: Might attempt to stall with Vap and Bliss.

Yanmega: Ice shard Weavile, Rotom-H

Zapdos: This guy might be a handful, Hopefully, tangrowth’s rockslide can do some damage and flinch him. Weavile has Ice shard, Gliscor may get an earthquake on him if he roosts first but that is a highly unlikely opportunity.

 

[frogbandit]

Hi,

You seem to have a bit of a MixApe problem. Blissey and Empoleon fall easily to Close Combat, and Fire Blast takes out Weavile, Rotom-H, and Tangrowth without a Sunny Day boost. And with HP Ice Nasty Plot Mixape can literally beat your whole team, if Blissey can't manage to get off a Sunny Day for Tangrowth.

To fix this I suggest swapping Blissey for Vaporeon, one of Infernape's best counters. Vappy walls Fire Blast, Close Combat, and HP Ice, and doesn't take too much damage from Grass Knots either. It is also almost as good a Special wall as Blissey, and can pack Wish. Amazingly, it can learn Sunny Day too. Heres the Standard Wishpassing set:

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Bold Nature
188 HP / 252 Def / 68 Spe
~ Wish
~ Protect
~ Surf
~ Sunny Day/ Hidden Power Electric / Ice Beam / Toxic

With wish, passing a sunny day boost to Tangrowth is a lot easier. With wish + protect, Vaporeon can stall quite well late game if needed. And surf is for taking out the primary threat, Infernape.

 

[brandonthebeast]

While I know you're trying to set up Tangrowth with Blissey, I do not advise it as Sunny Day really is bait for any fire type to come in and sweep your entire team.
If a smart player switched in a Heatran when you flamethrowered or switched to Tangrowth, it would sweep your whole team.
Even Infernape could deal a massive amount of damage with the addition of your Sunny Day.
From this, Blissey also loses some of its usefullness by not carrying softboiled to continously wall.
Due to this, I suggest reverting back to a standard Blissey and compromising your Sunny Day strategy.
Against most common leads, Gliscor won't get the chance to set up stealth rocks because of its slow speed
Taunters like Azelf and Aerodactyl would easily taunt you the first turn, set up rocks the second, and do as much damage as possible to your team.
Of course, I would suggest U-Turn over aerial ace because it'll be more useful to cripple leads like Azelf.
One of your biggest weaknesses is Heatran, which could KO your Weavile, Tangrowth, and Empoleon easily without any setup.
Empoleon is NOT a check for most fire types in OU unless you guarantee an Agility.
Hippowdon and Tyranitar also compromises most of your strategies.
If Tyranitar or Hippowdon is running Earthquake, Ice Beam/Ice Fang, Crunch, and Dragon Dance/Slack Off, it KOes your whole team (bar Blissey and Weavile if it manages to do enough damage with Ice Punch)
I have no idea what you were thinking when you added Low Kick and Assist to your Weavile, as Low Kick sucks on Weavile and Assist is just unreliable.
To replace, I of course would suggest Ice Shard for priority (Ex. Gliscor U-Turns Azelf/Aerodactyl and switches to Weavile who Ice Shards for the KO)
I still don't know what you were thinking with Low Kick but if you want a fighting move, run Brick Break, or if you want sheer power, run swords dance.
The Blissey-Tangrowth seems like a good strategy, and it certainly is creative, but Infernape still outspeeds your Chlorophylled Tangrowth and Scarf Heatran does the same.
I also feel like your coverage is amazingly lacking.
One of the biggest weaknesses your team has is it's inability to counter fire types.
To counter, I strongly suggest replacing Empoleon with a sweeper just as bulky, maybe bulky gyara or crocune just so that you'll have a better time against Heatran and Infernape who counter your team.
As for your Rotom-H, run Will-o-Wisp as it helps soften the blows from physical attackers that run through your team like Hippowdon and Tyranitar
I'm trying to give you as few Team-Changes and possible, but I really feel that Blissey isn't right for the job of setting up Sunny Day.
It's mediocre SPA isn't going to be doing anything with flamethrower, and it's only real job is to Aromatherapy.
My suggestion is to run Sunny Day somewhere on Suicune, with the moveset, Surf, Calm Mind, HP Electric, and Sunny Day
Sunny Day would be a much bigger surprise and could scare lots of counters off in case you're being walled by a grass type.

 

[JarardoMartino]

Thank you both for your help. I noticed the Mix Ape weakness myself but couldnt really formulate a proper solution. I'll try replacing Empoleon and go with vaporeon because she doesn't take as much from grassknot. I'll play around with some EVs and try to speed up Gliscor and Tangrowth. I'll admit, assist was a pretty stupid choice so i'll go with ice shard on weavile and will-o-wisp on Rotom-H.

 

[End Fashion]

While I know you're trying to set up Tangrowth with Blissey, I do not advise it as Sunny Day really is bait for any fire type to come in and sweep your entire team.
If a smart player switched in a Heatran when you flamethrowered or switched to Tangrowth, it would sweep your whole team.
Even Infernape could deal a massive amount of damage with the addition of your Sunny Day.

228 speed EVs with a Jolly nature allows Tangrowth to outpace Timid ScarfTran in the sun. If Heatran comes in on the switch, it loses. Infernape only outpaces it if it is scarfed, heavily speed EVd, or uses Vacuum Wave.

Now, on to some little suggestions for the team:

First I'll look at your Blissey and Tangrowth. For Blissey, I would probably run Softboiled over Aromatherapy, and Seismic Toss over Flamethrower. Seismic toss just seems to be the more consistent way of taking damage off foes, and allows you to take down any Heatran locked into an attack. Toxic over Thunder Wave gives you more stalling abilities against pretty much anything besides big physical attackers and Gengar.

With Tangrowth, I'd put Sleep Powder over Synthesis, since I think the offensive nature of OU makes the healing move redundant on him. Putting counters to sleep is a good way to avoid taking damage in the first place IMO. Having said that, I think you should look at using Life Orb or Expert Belt over Leftovers. I know you are looking for a bulky sweeper angle, but I Tangrowth doesn't have that sort of power without either Swords Dancing or using a power-increasing item.

Weavile needs to be changed. Ice Shard and Brick Break, please. Ice Shard is how you deal with any DD Dragons ie. Salamence. Brick Break is more effective across the board, as Low Kick only has 60 base power against the likes of Blissey.

(Realised that you have made some changes while I was writing this reply).

I like Vaporeon over Empoleon, too. It also gives you a better counter over Gyarados. That said, Gyarados himself can be a good option here if you wanted to be more offensive.

Now that you are running Will-O-Wisp on Rotom, it might be better to give it Thunderbolt over Discharge. It would suck to accidentally paralyse someone when you would be better off burning them. That's just a philosophy of mine.

 

[JarardoMartino]

Good point End Fashion!
Thanks for the input. Life Orb does go better with Tangrowth. I'll think i'll still keep aromatherapy though or switch it with sunny day. One thing that puzzles me, how do you get Blissey to learn Seismic Toss?

 

[pokemon]

To get Blissey to learn Seismic Toss, it has to be taught at the Pokemon Emerald Battle Frontier Move Tutors, or the FireRed/LeafGreen move tutor in the Pewter City Museum side house (where you get the Amber Fossil). That way it learns seismic toss and then you migrate it to DPPT/HGSS.

 

[JarardoMartino]

To get Blissey to learn Seismic Toss, it has to be taught at the Pokemon Emerald Battle Frontier Move Tutors, or the FireRed/LeafGreen move tutor in the Pewter City Museum side house (where you get the Amber Fossil). That way it learns seismic toss and then you migrate it to DPPT/HGSS.

Ok i guess that options out for me then :P. Thanks for the info! I'll just use ice beam for dragons then.

 

[JarardoMartino]

Bump

 

[MrIndigo]

I'm curious as to how you can reliably abuse Sunny Day when you only have one thing that has it, and something else is the benefactor.

This seems like it would be too unreliable.

 

[JarardoMartino]

I'm curious as to how you can reliably abuse Sunny Day when you only have one thing that has it, and something else is the benefactor.

This seems like it would be too unreliable.

well the idea was to have vaporeon use sunny day then wish and switch to tangrowth but i can see how it maybe trouble some to get vaporeon in. If you have any other suggestions to a plan-b sunny day passer if vaporeon fails i'd sure like to hear them as i am generally open to improvements.