Wishing Star of the Seven Nights
Hello Smogon. It feels like forever since I last posted a RMT; it feels good to be back! I made this team inspired by the thought “Is Jirachi a good theme for a team?” I tested and tested things just to see the same conclusion: failure. This really bad streak ended when a friend of mine gave me the inspiration to work around with Jirachi. A specific Salamence set that has been thought of “extinct”; I fell in love with the idea and decided to work around that core. After spending a fairly good amount of time thinking, I realized a very effective sweeper with great synergy, that´s how the team was built!
I was astonished by the results! It had surpassed my expectative; I finally found what I was looking for. I tested enough to tell that the team is good. Despite the team´s effectiveness, I consider it a “tournament team”, because it has many surprises that won´t work always in the ladder (that explains my lack of laddering with this team). It did really well on the tournaments I joined with it and it is a very fun-to-play team. I retired the team a long time ago, and I thought that it would be a good tribute to make a RMT.
Here my team lies, in its own in a separate sky!
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Bad (Swampert) @ Leftovers
Torrent
252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
Relaxed
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Ice Beam
Roar
Swampert leads off for me and he does a great job at it too. He is very important for the team because he is my Stealth Rock user, as well as my back up counter to Tyranitar and Salamence. I like how he gets perfect coverage while he still have the slots to gain momentum with Stealth Rock and phasing opponents with Roar. I usually play him conservatively, because he checks / beats many threats that otherwise my team is unable to handle. Late game I can keep him alive with Wish support and can be a very nasty Pokémon to deal with after Spikes has been set up. I also really like that he is very hard to set up on (I can switch out if I predict a Taunt from Gyarados.) Swampert´s bulk and typing makes him a great asset for this team.
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Bouquet (Roserade) (F) @ Leftovers
Natural Cure
248 HP / 56 Def / 80 SDef / 124 Spe
Calm
Grass Knot
Spikes
Hidden Power Fire
Stun Spore
From experience I know that every Pokémon, despite its role, will always work better with Spikes support. That is what made me choose Roserade, Spikes. It was very hard to find out the best Spiker for the team, mainly because Skarmory and Forretress slow down momentum for my team while Froslass is just a failure outside of the lead spot. I chose her not only because she learns Spikes, but because she is a very effective lure to Scizor. Without Scizor Salamence and Tyranitar are more likely to sweep through entire teams. Bouquet can also deal with troublesome Pokémon such as defensive Rotom-A, Vaporeon and Blissey. The key to this set´s success is the fact that it beats most Rapid Spin users like Starmie and Forretress. All the moves are important, Spikes is the core around the set, GK and Hidden Power are for covering key Pokemon and Stun Spore is to make sure that Salamence and Gyarados won´t get a free Dragon Dance on me. All hail Bouquet!
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Predator (Salamence) (M) @ Choice Band
Intimidate
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Adamant
Outrage
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Fire Fang
Salamence is the most potent Pokémon of the team. This set is the best wall breaker in the game, in my opinion. With Stealth Rock and Spikes support, Salamence doesn´t have a safe switch-in. Generally I dislike using Choice items, but Salamence is one of the best Pokémon to abuse a Choice Band. It´s raw power is that great, that even when resisted, Outrage 2HKOs every grounded Pokémon without a ridiculous investment in Defense and HP Evs. I likely start with Dragon Claw, to see how my opponent reacts to Salamence. The second time Salamence switches in, I unleash its unparallel Outrage crushing everything on its way. Predator lures and beat most if not all of Tyranitar counters, and he can clean in a rush. I think that I (ab) used Salamence correctly while it was OU; still, the memory remains...
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Seven Nights (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Serene Grace
236 HP / 20 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly
Iron Head
Reflect
Light Screen
Wish
Jirachi is indeed the key player of my team. He is the best and my favorite member of Seven Nights (I will refer to the team as Seven Nights from now on). His role is to gain momentum by causing switches, increasing the residual damage. Jirachi is a very supportive teammate, being the only member of Seven Nights with more than two non-damaging moves. I don´t play Jirachi as a standard player would do with Azelf, I rather play conservatively. Jirachi has so many roles and supports the entire team, which makes him the most important Pokémon on my team. The ability to cause switches, to beat the most common threats, being able to heal its teammates while reinforcing the defenses of the team are the reasons to choose him. Jirachi can´t work well without its teammates and the team cannot work well without him.
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21Guns (Rotom-C) @ Leftovers
Levitate
252 HP / 188 Spe / 68 Def
Timid
Thunderbolt
Will.o.Wisp
Substitute / Reflect
Hidden Power Ice
As most teams that use entry hazards, my team needed to block Rapid Spin. Rotom-A´s bulk and typing made it the superior option over Gengar. Rotom is my only way to deal with Gyarados, so I need to play him correctly throughout the match. Hopefully, Jirachi can heal Rotom on a predicted Earthquake or U.turn from Scizor. I chose Rotom-C because it looks way cooler than the others and because it won´t tempt Tyranitar to switch in. Rotom-C beats Scizor and lures Gliscor, so he supports the team really well. Aside from that, he is the only member of the team that is able to take a move from Infernape, so I need to be careful when I use him. I like when Rotom burns another Pokémon because it is way easier to work around it and possibly setting up with Tyranitar.
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Magnificent (Tyranitar) (M) @ Leftovers
Sandstream
108 HP / 148 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly
Dragon Dance
Crunch
Earthquake
Taunt
I consider Tyranitar one of the best sweepers in the game. With proper support, he can rip through entire teams after a Dragon Dance. Gliscor won´t be able to wall him after Rotom-C has lured him, or after Roserade nails him with Stun Spore. And Scizor always loses when he faces Salamence, because Outrage 2HKOs (has a small chance to OHKO after two switches) while every other Pokémon attempting to wall him dies in Salamence´s claws. Magnificent is a beast with Spikes, and if I play correctly, there is nothing on stall that is able to stop me. By the time Tyranitar comes out, usually my team has weakened the opponent´s team enough for Tyranitar to clean up. Under screens, Tyranitar will easily set up on weak Pokémon such as defensive Starmie and Vaporeon, after a boost it is usually good game. Taunt helps to stop Skarmory and Rotom-A from crippling me with Whirlwind and Will.o.Wisp respectively. By the time I started to use this set, it was very uncommon, thus the surprise factor was key in most of the games. The only sweeper in the team, although with its quality, it is the only one needed. It is named Magnificent because it is what he represents, magnificence. Tyranitar is the one who has the “gun” in my games…
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It has been really fun to play with this team, and I am happy with the results of most of the games. The team is now outdated, without Latias around to set up and Infernape´s rise in usage pretty much guaranteeing a lose on my part. I decided that it is time to say goodbye, farewell Seven Nights.
Credits to Kir, Cost, picklesword and 21Guns for the inspiration to make this team**
(I decided not to do anything fancy this time, expect something way bigger soon,though!)
Wishing Star of the Seven Nights.
