Team Building Process -
I had seen, while lurking on here, a specially bulky Tyranitar set that was specifically designed to come in on things like Azelf, Latias, Rotom and Zapdos among other things, and just wreck 'em. I was intrigued so I tested it out as a lead with Lum Berry and it worked insanely well, but I thought to myself "I'm sure with something like Leftovers this Tyranitar could be much, much more bulky while still doing the job it was meant to do." so I threw Leftovers on him and built a team designed to cover everything he couldn't so;
Next, I needed a lead to do what Tyranitar was doing as a lead, which was absorbing status and killing things while taking hits. I had a hard time finding a pokemon with the bulk of Tyranitar that could work effectively as a lead while supporting Tyranitar itself and meeting the requirements I set, but after testing extensively I came to the conclusion that I may have found something better as a lead in a makeshift Anti-Lead Mixape so;
After that, I figured that Infernape wouldn't always be around and that he's not going to be able to tank hits forever so I needed a good Scizor counter, and what pokemon immediately comes to mind whenever one needs to kill Scizor?
Next, I knew that Toxic Spikes wouldn't be too much of an issue because my only two pokemon hurt by them are A) a Semi-Suicide Lead Infernape and B) Rest Tyranitar, but I also knew that luring out my opponent's Rotoms and Latias would mean easy kills and I also knew that Spikes and Stealth Rock COULD do some pretty significant damage. Upon further testing I also came to the conclusion that I needed a very reliable Gyarados counter, and the only pokemon that I could think of that could Spin and smack around the 'ol Water Dragon was;
Next, I knew I was going to need a Fighting resistant pokemon that wasn't Starmie, because I've always found that relying on only 1-2 pokemon to beat your teams biggest weakness is generally a very unsuccessful strategy. I also knew that I would be able to utilize a Spinblocker so I knew that this pokemon was going to be a Ghost-type. Also, at this point, Swampert was giving me major problems, so that's when I knew that I was going to have to include;
And then it came down to me needing a very specific pokemon. I needed something that could come in on Gyarados, Fighting-type pokemon with moves like Payback, something that could Wishpass and something that could lure out Scizor. I had originally thought that Vaporeon could do the job well enough but it wasn't working nearly as well as I had though and it's lack of resistances to things that hurt my team already was becoming frustrating, so I went back to the drawing board and came up with quite a monster.
This may look like a very standard team at first glance but my unique movesets and EV spreads are what really set it apart from a lot of other teams I see laddering nowadays.
The Team -
Infernape (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 128 Atk/252 Spd/128 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Close Combat
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Fake Out
Nobody sees this coming. For some odd reason. Swampert is a ridiculously common lead and it's been known to give this team a considerable amount of trouble in the past so I decided to slap Grass Knot on a Leadape and let him start off the game by busting one of the most effective walls that you can possibly use against me. It's essentially a sweeping Mixape holding a Lum Berry to slap status leads/users that think they're going to get to set up on him. Fake out ensures that my opponent is going to think that this is a standard Leadape and that I'm A) Holding a Sash and B) I'll Stealth Rock next turn. This usually lets me get rid of their Stealth Rocker early in the game and it also gives me a pretty distinct advantage if I can Spin away their Rocks and have some of my own up. Works well in tandem with Starmie and Salamence imo.
Salamence (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/212 Def/44 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast
I'm pretty confident that this is a somewhat standard Defensively bulky Wishmence but I decided that instead of using a Physical attacking approach I'd go for a SAtk-centric Wishmence which works particularly well against Salamences counters/checks because 99% of the time they're prepared for a huge Physical threat and don't really make any attempt to wall Special Attacks. STAB Dragon Pulse actually hits really hard, and Scizor really likes to come in on him and Bullet Punch, which means Maggy gets to switch in for free and give me an easy +1 in pokemon advantage.
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 136 HP/156 Def/216 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
Starmie has proven to be a very integral part of this team for two main reasons. Gyarados and Entry Hazards. Starmie, with all of it's Defensive bulk and Water/Psychic typing can come in on Gyarados and several other Physical threats including Tyranitar, and win. Starmie also has the innate ability to draw out Rotoms and Latias' for Tyranitar to eat. Outspeeds Gengar, which can also wreak havoc on this team if left unchecked, and OHKO's with Hydro Pump, so that's pretty nice.
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Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/136 Atk/120 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Rest
- Stealth Rock
This Specially bulky Tyranitar is absolutely ridiculous. Latias and Rotom are completely neutralized by this set. Even WoW Rotoms find themselves somewhat overwhelmed by this Tyranitar which this team finds incredibly valuable. Azelf, the most common lead in the metagame, also finds itself being completely wrecked by this set, especially if it's a Fire Blast/Psychic version without Explosion. This set also outstalls Blissey and only takes roughly 35% from Heatran's Earth Power (Without Specs or Modest) which means it's generally going to be able to beat Heatran or bait out an Earth Power for Rotom to come in on. I've been considering replacing Stealt Rock with Earthquake just so it can hit a much wider spectrum of pokemon with a Super Effective move, but I like my Infernape how it is and I don't have any complains about Ttar either.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 16 Def/240 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Explosion
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
Magnezone is here to kill Scizor and covers a huge spectrum of threats in tandem with Salamence including being able to take a pounding from Salamence's Outrage and Latias' Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor (among other things.). This one is pretty basic and standard.
Rotom-F @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 128 HP/212 Spd/168 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Reflect
I'm really partial to this Rotom set because it's always done exactly what I had intended for it to do very, very well. This Rotom can come in on pretty much anything slower than it with its insane list of resistances/immunities and set up a sub with almost no issues at all. It's got Reflect so it can just downright beat Tyranitar with HP Fighting, and HP Fighting allows it to beat Heatran pretty easily as well, it being a fairly common switch-in. I used to have Thunderbolt but I figured I would probably never find myself switching it into a Gyarados and if I do I can always just Reflect/Shadow Ball it to death and keep the coverage that SB has with HP Fighting. Suicune is the only thing that really comes in on this guy and sets up, and for that I have Magnezone and Starmie.
Any advice or suggestions are welcome. I'm sort of looking to replace Magnezone for something that can Spin like Forretress, so I can use Psych Up on Starmie to help with my Calmcune weakness. I'm going to test a Specs version of Magnezone and if that doesn't work I may replace it.
I'll post the threat list later.
I had seen, while lurking on here, a specially bulky Tyranitar set that was specifically designed to come in on things like Azelf, Latias, Rotom and Zapdos among other things, and just wreck 'em. I was intrigued so I tested it out as a lead with Lum Berry and it worked insanely well, but I thought to myself "I'm sure with something like Leftovers this Tyranitar could be much, much more bulky while still doing the job it was meant to do." so I threw Leftovers on him and built a team designed to cover everything he couldn't so;
Next, I needed a lead to do what Tyranitar was doing as a lead, which was absorbing status and killing things while taking hits. I had a hard time finding a pokemon with the bulk of Tyranitar that could work effectively as a lead while supporting Tyranitar itself and meeting the requirements I set, but after testing extensively I came to the conclusion that I may have found something better as a lead in a makeshift Anti-Lead Mixape so;
After that, I figured that Infernape wouldn't always be around and that he's not going to be able to tank hits forever so I needed a good Scizor counter, and what pokemon immediately comes to mind whenever one needs to kill Scizor?
Next, I knew that Toxic Spikes wouldn't be too much of an issue because my only two pokemon hurt by them are A) a Semi-Suicide Lead Infernape and B) Rest Tyranitar, but I also knew that luring out my opponent's Rotoms and Latias would mean easy kills and I also knew that Spikes and Stealth Rock COULD do some pretty significant damage. Upon further testing I also came to the conclusion that I needed a very reliable Gyarados counter, and the only pokemon that I could think of that could Spin and smack around the 'ol Water Dragon was;
Next, I knew I was going to need a Fighting resistant pokemon that wasn't Starmie, because I've always found that relying on only 1-2 pokemon to beat your teams biggest weakness is generally a very unsuccessful strategy. I also knew that I would be able to utilize a Spinblocker so I knew that this pokemon was going to be a Ghost-type. Also, at this point, Swampert was giving me major problems, so that's when I knew that I was going to have to include;
And then it came down to me needing a very specific pokemon. I needed something that could come in on Gyarados, Fighting-type pokemon with moves like Payback, something that could Wishpass and something that could lure out Scizor. I had originally thought that Vaporeon could do the job well enough but it wasn't working nearly as well as I had though and it's lack of resistances to things that hurt my team already was becoming frustrating, so I went back to the drawing board and came up with quite a monster.
This may look like a very standard team at first glance but my unique movesets and EV spreads are what really set it apart from a lot of other teams I see laddering nowadays.
The Team -
Infernape (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 128 Atk/252 Spd/128 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Close Combat
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Fake Out
Nobody sees this coming. For some odd reason. Swampert is a ridiculously common lead and it's been known to give this team a considerable amount of trouble in the past so I decided to slap Grass Knot on a Leadape and let him start off the game by busting one of the most effective walls that you can possibly use against me. It's essentially a sweeping Mixape holding a Lum Berry to slap status leads/users that think they're going to get to set up on him. Fake out ensures that my opponent is going to think that this is a standard Leadape and that I'm A) Holding a Sash and B) I'll Stealth Rock next turn. This usually lets me get rid of their Stealth Rocker early in the game and it also gives me a pretty distinct advantage if I can Spin away their Rocks and have some of my own up. Works well in tandem with Starmie and Salamence imo.
Salamence (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/212 Def/44 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast
I'm pretty confident that this is a somewhat standard Defensively bulky Wishmence but I decided that instead of using a Physical attacking approach I'd go for a SAtk-centric Wishmence which works particularly well against Salamences counters/checks because 99% of the time they're prepared for a huge Physical threat and don't really make any attempt to wall Special Attacks. STAB Dragon Pulse actually hits really hard, and Scizor really likes to come in on him and Bullet Punch, which means Maggy gets to switch in for free and give me an easy +1 in pokemon advantage.
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 136 HP/156 Def/216 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
Starmie has proven to be a very integral part of this team for two main reasons. Gyarados and Entry Hazards. Starmie, with all of it's Defensive bulk and Water/Psychic typing can come in on Gyarados and several other Physical threats including Tyranitar, and win. Starmie also has the innate ability to draw out Rotoms and Latias' for Tyranitar to eat. Outspeeds Gengar, which can also wreak havoc on this team if left unchecked, and OHKO's with Hydro Pump, so that's pretty nice.
]
Tyranitar (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/136 Atk/120 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Rest
- Stealth Rock
This Specially bulky Tyranitar is absolutely ridiculous. Latias and Rotom are completely neutralized by this set. Even WoW Rotoms find themselves somewhat overwhelmed by this Tyranitar which this team finds incredibly valuable. Azelf, the most common lead in the metagame, also finds itself being completely wrecked by this set, especially if it's a Fire Blast/Psychic version without Explosion. This set also outstalls Blissey and only takes roughly 35% from Heatran's Earth Power (Without Specs or Modest) which means it's generally going to be able to beat Heatran or bait out an Earth Power for Rotom to come in on. I've been considering replacing Stealt Rock with Earthquake just so it can hit a much wider spectrum of pokemon with a Super Effective move, but I like my Infernape how it is and I don't have any complains about Ttar either.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 16 Def/240 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Explosion
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
Magnezone is here to kill Scizor and covers a huge spectrum of threats in tandem with Salamence including being able to take a pounding from Salamence's Outrage and Latias' Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor (among other things.). This one is pretty basic and standard.
Rotom-F @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 128 HP/212 Spd/168 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Reflect
I'm really partial to this Rotom set because it's always done exactly what I had intended for it to do very, very well. This Rotom can come in on pretty much anything slower than it with its insane list of resistances/immunities and set up a sub with almost no issues at all. It's got Reflect so it can just downright beat Tyranitar with HP Fighting, and HP Fighting allows it to beat Heatran pretty easily as well, it being a fairly common switch-in. I used to have Thunderbolt but I figured I would probably never find myself switching it into a Gyarados and if I do I can always just Reflect/Shadow Ball it to death and keep the coverage that SB has with HP Fighting. Suicune is the only thing that really comes in on this guy and sets up, and for that I have Magnezone and Starmie.
Any advice or suggestions are welcome. I'm sort of looking to replace Magnezone for something that can Spin like Forretress, so I can use Psych Up on Starmie to help with my Calmcune weakness. I'm going to test a Specs version of Magnezone and if that doesn't work I may replace it.
I'll post the threat list later.
