After returning to Shoddy from a short break, I decided to make a full mono (because wildcards don't make sense to me) Dark team for OU and UU. After the OU team started failing after a while, I decided to make a new team. This one would be based around a Lucario set I came up with (although I wouldn't be surprised if someone else already did) some time ago. Even though it can rip through stuff really easily because of it's surprise factor (I love originality that works), I now find it doesn't have to have a huge role for me to win with this team, which actually makes me happy, since winning is fun, isn't it?
Anyways, on to the team! Let's have a look at some random sprites first to see who's at the party (sprites are from PE2K, except the Rotom one, found it somewhere on this site, all credit goes to whoever ripped/drew 'em):
That was fun, wasn't it? No? Yeah, I figured...
Anyways, now let's get to the actual team (prepare for some random gibberish from time to time, I like to write down whatever I'm thinking, so I switch subjects every two seconds, sorry 'bout that):
Skarmory (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 248 HP/8 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Roost
- Brave Bird
Skarmory is a great lead, even though the EV's I put on it are pretty bad (it used to be a Gliscor, and when I changed it to Skarmory, I tried out this spread, and it worked pretty well, so I never bothered changing it). I didn't max out it's HP, since I now try to achieve two things when making a Poke, one being perfect coverage (more on that later), the other being uneven HP, which should (correct me if I'm wrong. I'll say it only once, but it goes for the complete RMT, I mean, that's why I posted it in the first place) give me more switches when SR are up.
The moveset may be a bit different then standard sets. That's because I wanted as much entry hazards as possible, so that Lucario has an easier time sweeping (that was the first thought). I might want to change to a more specially bulky set with Whirlwind, since I lack phazing.
Brave Bird is for Taunt leads (which I see a lot lately) and damage later on, Roost is for healing (recoil) damage. I went with a Lum Berry instead of a Shed Shell (I even tried an Occa berry, but since I had no SpDef investment, it failed), since Sleep Leads are pretty common too.
Runs to who for what type?:
Electric -> Rotom
Fire -> Starmie, Tyranitar
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast/Inner Focus
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Aura Sphere
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
Aah, yes, I am so loving this set. I've always found SD Lucario too slow, since it was outsped by a lot, and was revenge killed easily (I have to admit though, I need to rely on Tyranitar for that, since most Lucario pack Crunch, which rips through Rotom). So, I wanted to make it faster with Agility. And, since it has no Attack-boosting move, its Base SpAtk is higher and most people expect a Physical one, I chose a Special set.
Agility makes it very fast anyways, so I went with Modest and a Life Orb for maximum power. I had Wise Glasses first, but it wasn't enough for me.
Aura Sphere is his best Special STAB move, which never misses and has Base 90 power. How could I choose something else? Shadow Ball was an easy second choice, since it gives him perfect coverage (told ya I'd come back to it) and is a great Special move overall. HP Ice was chosen as Lucario's last move, since it takes out Slamence and Gliscor. Getting the Agility up mostly isn't much of a problems, seeing Lucario's 4x SR resistance, great typing, and since most people think it's physical, they want to burn it, which gives me a turn to set up (although the residual damage greatly shortens the sweep). The one big threat is Vacuum Wave from Specs Lucario. Hell, any priority is dealy, due to Lucario's thinner-then-paper defenses. I mostly manage to work around these though.
Runs to who for what type?:
Fire -> Starmie, Tyranitar
Fighting -> Starmie, Rotom
Ground -> Skarmory, Rotom
Rotom-h @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/168 Def/88 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Will-o-wisp
- Overheat
- Pain Split
- Thunderbolt
Standard Smogon Set. I like originality, but this set is just so good. Anyways, I didn't want Skarmory to feel bad whenever a Starmie or Donphan came in and blew away its hard work, so I needed a spin blocker. I first had my double status Gengar (Yes, with perfect coverage, how'd you guess?) in this spot, but it didn't last long enough to block a spin. This little oven, however, is very hard to take down.
When an opponent has a Blissey, I mostly heal Rotom with Pain Split, since they can't do much else then paralyze or poison me anyways. Overheat is great against Scizor, who is outsped and OHKO'd. Furthermore, Lucario can run to Rotom whenever someone tries to launch a Ground or Fighting attack at him. Lucario can take Ghost and Dark moves back (somewhat, Gengars Shadow Ball is still dangerous).
Runs to who for what type?:
Ghost -> Skarmory, Tyranitar, Lucario
Dark -> Skarmory, Tyranitar, Lucario
Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Superpower
Tyranitar...my all-time favourite Poke. I mean, look at it! It's awesome!
Anyways, pretty standard ScarfTar. Crunch, Stone Edge and EQ are basically on every ScarfTar set, and I chose for Superpower, because Blissey and Snorlax are both pains, and Brick Break (which I had first) wasn't strong enough. Now, it doesn't only serve as a revenge killer, but also gets up a sandstorm, which is always a hindrance for an opponent who isn't prepared for it. And, when Lucario gets up a sweep, and nearly knocks out an opponent, sandstorm may just finish the job.
But, back to revenge killing. Tyranitar gives me a check to Infernapes who lack Mach Punch, slower Mences, spin blockers, Blissey, Snorlax (yeah, the two of you again) and a lot of other stuff that I can't think of now, because I'm tired.
Runs to who for what type?:
Water -> Starmie
Grass -> Skarmory, Lucario, Jirachi
Fighting -> Rotom, Starmie
Ground -> Skarmory, Rotom
Bug -> Skarmory, Lucario, Rotom
Steel -> Skarmory, Lucario, Rotom, Jirachi, Starmie (should've put "everyone else", really...)
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP/60 Atk/200 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Wish
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch
- Thunderpunch
Yeah...I really need to change the nature, don't I? Anyways, as much as I hate Jirachi, it fits this role. It can give random heals where needed, or a safer switch for Lucario (if it can survive the hit in the first place), but what it does most of the time is win stallwars against Blissey. This used to be an Umbreon, but I switched for some more attack power.
For this slot, I'm open for change the most. When I look at it again now, I just don't know what I was thinking when I put that nature there...maybe some bulk on both sides? Anyways, back to changing it. I'll look again for something that can pass wishes, but I'd rather have something with Heal Bell or Aromatherapy, since a Paralyzed Tyranitar or Lucario is useless to me.
Runs to who for what type?:
Fire -> Starmie, Tyranitar
Ground -> Skarmory, Rotom
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 136 HP/156 Def/216 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
Aaand last, but certainly not least, it's Starmie! Again, it's the set on Smogon, but I wanted a spinner, and Starmie is one of the fastest, if not the fastest spinner in the game. Even though entry hazards don't hurt this team too much, the less damage, the better. Starmie also provides great synergy, taking Fire and Fighting hits like a champ and recovering the damage. It also is pretty much the only thing on this team to take on Infernape, something I probably should change.
When I have all entry hazards up, Starmie can also be used to lure in Choiced Pursuit trappers like Tyranitar and Scizor. If Pursuit kills, there's nothing to worry, because Lucario can come in, set up an Agility and proceed to wreck the opponent's team. It also is a really decent check to Gyarados, being able to take a hit and KO with Thunderbolt.
Runs to who for what type?:
Electric -> Rotom
Grass -> Skarmory, Lucario, Jirachi
Bug -> Skarmory, Lucario, Rotom
Ghost -> Skarmory, Lucario, Tyranitar
Dark -> Skarmory, Lucario, Tyranitar
So, a few more words about the team as a whole. As I said, I am willing to change Jirachi to something that can heal the teams Statuses, since I don't pass wishes as much as I did with my Umbreon in my mono Dark team. Furthermore, I really need to watch out for Infernape and Salamence, but then again, who doesn't?
So, I hope you enjoyed reading this RMT, and if you see anything you think should change (and not just in the team, but the RMT as a whole), feel free to tell me, I'm still new at this, so I'll listen to all the advice I get.
Anyways, on to the team! Let's have a look at some random sprites first to see who's at the party (sprites are from PE2K, except the Rotom one, found it somewhere on this site, all credit goes to whoever ripped/drew 'em):
That was fun, wasn't it? No? Yeah, I figured...
Anyways, now let's get to the actual team (prepare for some random gibberish from time to time, I like to write down whatever I'm thinking, so I switch subjects every two seconds, sorry 'bout that):
Skarmory (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 248 HP/8 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Roost
- Brave Bird
Skarmory is a great lead, even though the EV's I put on it are pretty bad (it used to be a Gliscor, and when I changed it to Skarmory, I tried out this spread, and it worked pretty well, so I never bothered changing it). I didn't max out it's HP, since I now try to achieve two things when making a Poke, one being perfect coverage (more on that later), the other being uneven HP, which should (correct me if I'm wrong. I'll say it only once, but it goes for the complete RMT, I mean, that's why I posted it in the first place) give me more switches when SR are up.
The moveset may be a bit different then standard sets. That's because I wanted as much entry hazards as possible, so that Lucario has an easier time sweeping (that was the first thought). I might want to change to a more specially bulky set with Whirlwind, since I lack phazing.
Brave Bird is for Taunt leads (which I see a lot lately) and damage later on, Roost is for healing (recoil) damage. I went with a Lum Berry instead of a Shed Shell (I even tried an Occa berry, but since I had no SpDef investment, it failed), since Sleep Leads are pretty common too.
Runs to who for what type?:
Electric -> Rotom
Fire -> Starmie, Tyranitar
Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast/Inner Focus
EVs: 4 Def/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Aura Sphere
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
Aah, yes, I am so loving this set. I've always found SD Lucario too slow, since it was outsped by a lot, and was revenge killed easily (I have to admit though, I need to rely on Tyranitar for that, since most Lucario pack Crunch, which rips through Rotom). So, I wanted to make it faster with Agility. And, since it has no Attack-boosting move, its Base SpAtk is higher and most people expect a Physical one, I chose a Special set.
Agility makes it very fast anyways, so I went with Modest and a Life Orb for maximum power. I had Wise Glasses first, but it wasn't enough for me.
Aura Sphere is his best Special STAB move, which never misses and has Base 90 power. How could I choose something else? Shadow Ball was an easy second choice, since it gives him perfect coverage (told ya I'd come back to it) and is a great Special move overall. HP Ice was chosen as Lucario's last move, since it takes out Slamence and Gliscor. Getting the Agility up mostly isn't much of a problems, seeing Lucario's 4x SR resistance, great typing, and since most people think it's physical, they want to burn it, which gives me a turn to set up (although the residual damage greatly shortens the sweep). The one big threat is Vacuum Wave from Specs Lucario. Hell, any priority is dealy, due to Lucario's thinner-then-paper defenses. I mostly manage to work around these though.
Runs to who for what type?:
Fire -> Starmie, Tyranitar
Fighting -> Starmie, Rotom
Ground -> Skarmory, Rotom
Rotom-h @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/168 Def/88 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Will-o-wisp
- Overheat
- Pain Split
- Thunderbolt
Standard Smogon Set. I like originality, but this set is just so good. Anyways, I didn't want Skarmory to feel bad whenever a Starmie or Donphan came in and blew away its hard work, so I needed a spin blocker. I first had my double status Gengar (Yes, with perfect coverage, how'd you guess?) in this spot, but it didn't last long enough to block a spin. This little oven, however, is very hard to take down.
When an opponent has a Blissey, I mostly heal Rotom with Pain Split, since they can't do much else then paralyze or poison me anyways. Overheat is great against Scizor, who is outsped and OHKO'd. Furthermore, Lucario can run to Rotom whenever someone tries to launch a Ground or Fighting attack at him. Lucario can take Ghost and Dark moves back (somewhat, Gengars Shadow Ball is still dangerous).
Runs to who for what type?:
Ghost -> Skarmory, Tyranitar, Lucario
Dark -> Skarmory, Tyranitar, Lucario
Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Superpower
Tyranitar...my all-time favourite Poke. I mean, look at it! It's awesome!
Anyways, pretty standard ScarfTar. Crunch, Stone Edge and EQ are basically on every ScarfTar set, and I chose for Superpower, because Blissey and Snorlax are both pains, and Brick Break (which I had first) wasn't strong enough. Now, it doesn't only serve as a revenge killer, but also gets up a sandstorm, which is always a hindrance for an opponent who isn't prepared for it. And, when Lucario gets up a sweep, and nearly knocks out an opponent, sandstorm may just finish the job.
But, back to revenge killing. Tyranitar gives me a check to Infernapes who lack Mach Punch, slower Mences, spin blockers, Blissey, Snorlax (yeah, the two of you again) and a lot of other stuff that I can't think of now, because I'm tired.
Runs to who for what type?:
Water -> Starmie
Grass -> Skarmory, Lucario, Jirachi
Fighting -> Rotom, Starmie
Ground -> Skarmory, Rotom
Bug -> Skarmory, Lucario, Rotom
Steel -> Skarmory, Lucario, Rotom, Jirachi, Starmie (should've put "everyone else", really...)
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP/60 Atk/200 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Wish
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch
- Thunderpunch
Yeah...I really need to change the nature, don't I? Anyways, as much as I hate Jirachi, it fits this role. It can give random heals where needed, or a safer switch for Lucario (if it can survive the hit in the first place), but what it does most of the time is win stallwars against Blissey. This used to be an Umbreon, but I switched for some more attack power.
For this slot, I'm open for change the most. When I look at it again now, I just don't know what I was thinking when I put that nature there...maybe some bulk on both sides? Anyways, back to changing it. I'll look again for something that can pass wishes, but I'd rather have something with Heal Bell or Aromatherapy, since a Paralyzed Tyranitar or Lucario is useless to me.
Runs to who for what type?:
Fire -> Starmie, Tyranitar
Ground -> Skarmory, Rotom
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 136 HP/156 Def/216 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
Aaand last, but certainly not least, it's Starmie! Again, it's the set on Smogon, but I wanted a spinner, and Starmie is one of the fastest, if not the fastest spinner in the game. Even though entry hazards don't hurt this team too much, the less damage, the better. Starmie also provides great synergy, taking Fire and Fighting hits like a champ and recovering the damage. It also is pretty much the only thing on this team to take on Infernape, something I probably should change.
When I have all entry hazards up, Starmie can also be used to lure in Choiced Pursuit trappers like Tyranitar and Scizor. If Pursuit kills, there's nothing to worry, because Lucario can come in, set up an Agility and proceed to wreck the opponent's team. It also is a really decent check to Gyarados, being able to take a hit and KO with Thunderbolt.
Runs to who for what type?:
Electric -> Rotom
Grass -> Skarmory, Lucario, Jirachi
Bug -> Skarmory, Lucario, Rotom
Ghost -> Skarmory, Lucario, Tyranitar
Dark -> Skarmory, Lucario, Tyranitar
So, a few more words about the team as a whole. As I said, I am willing to change Jirachi to something that can heal the teams Statuses, since I don't pass wishes as much as I did with my Umbreon in my mono Dark team. Furthermore, I really need to watch out for Infernape and Salamence, but then again, who doesn't?
So, I hope you enjoyed reading this RMT, and if you see anything you think should change (and not just in the team, but the RMT as a whole), feel free to tell me, I'm still new at this, so I'll listen to all the advice I get.
