Night of the Beasts

[Defenda14]

Ok, my first post of this team did not work, some weird formatting stuff went absurdly wrong. Anyways, here it is, looking much, much better!

Night of the Beasts​

I've made my fair share of teams, and they constantly seem to be below everyone else's standards, despite netting me a decent win rate. But, like all, i wish to boost that rate, and so began a new team.

Team Building Process

My favourite Pokemon, hands-down, is Tyranitar. Thus, I decided to base this team around DDTar.

Next, I knew what i wanted to lead with, and wasn't going to shift from this combination. I have often used Metagross as a lead, with good success. I use Starmie frequently, as a special attacker. So when i saw their lead combination on Smogon, I just had to try it.

I realised I needed a reliable check to some of the metagame's major threats, including Metagross, Scizor and Jirachi. Who's to say no to a lack of weaknesses to most of their usual moves? Rotom-h was in.

Now, I wanted another ground immunity. Also realising i was lacking a revenge killer, one Pokemon came to mind - Scarfgon! As a bonus, it provides an electric immunity and a rock resistance.

The last member of the team was the one i spent the most time deliberating over. I wanted a bulky offense member with good resistance. I wanted a Steel type to provide a second resistance to psychic, ghost and dark, but not weak to ground. Scizor was the obvious choice.

Type Match-Up Chart

I'm sorry, but i don't know how to get this image.

Notes

No Pokemon weak to Stealth Rock, two resists
Only two not immune to Toxic Spikes (One of these has Natural Cure)
No more than two Pokemon weak to each type
At least two resistances/immunities to every type bar water, but i only have one weakness to that anyway.

In Depth

Zodiac (Starmie) @ Life Orb, Natural Cure

Timid Nature
EVs: 252SAtk/4SDef/252Spe

Hydro Pump/Surf
Grass Knot/Thunderbolt
Ice Beam
Rapid Spin/Recover

Standard anti-lead Starmie, as discussed in Smogon's article on lead synergy. Yes, i know there are a lot of optional changes in the set, but it really depends on the role i want it to play. Hydro Pump/Surf is the typical power/accuracy debate. Grass Knot takes care of Swampert, while Rotom has STAB electric moves anyway. Ice Beam to hit anything that its STAB move wouldn't hit as hard. Rapid Spin or Recover...As i have none weak to stealth rock and toxic spikes isn't too big an issue, do i really need Rapid Spin? Recover would be to offset Life Orb recoil and resisted hits.

Starmie wasn't spinning nearly enough, so I replaced Rapid Spin with Recover - allows it to stick around much longer, and I appreciate the second team member with recovery.

EVs are standard, speed and power. A great anti-lead, takes care of some of the most common leads today without much difficulty. It can also often come back as a late-game sweeper to tidy up. Has great synergy with the next Pokemon...

Psystorm (Metagross) @ Lum Berry, Clear Body

Adamant Nature
EVs: 240HP/236Atk/32Spe

Stealth Rock
Bullet Punch
Meteor Mash/Earthquake
Earthquake/Explosion

Ah, LeadGross. My standard lead for quite some time has now been somewhat relegated. Stealth rock because it's Stealth Rock, Bullet Punch for priority etc, etc. The last two slots are always a combination of Meteor Mash, Explosion and Earthquake. I found I wasn't exploding that much, so decided to stick to Meteor ash instead. Earthquake is there for coverage.

Evs are fairly standard, just shifted 8 from HP to outpace other lead Metagross. Ahh, Machamp surging up the ranks in lead usage? Take this, bitch. 2HKO by meteor Mash, with Lum berry rendering Dynamic Punch's confusion useless. Should Starmie lose the speed tie with Azelf, metagross can pick it off with Bullet Punch. Metagross' great bulk allows it to take a hit or two, and it always gets Stealth Rock up about 90% of the time.

Now testing Earthqauke over meteor Mash and keeping Explosion. This enables it to take on fire and steel types better, in response to Corncake22's post, while outspeeding and OHKOing Machamp with Explosion. Lum Berry still to protect against random status, and still renders Machamp's Dynamic Punch useless while i set up rocks.

Big Boxer (Rotom-h) @ Leftovers, Levitate

Bold Nature
EVs: 252HP/120Def/136SDef

Rest
Sleep Talk
Will-o-Wisp
Discharge

Standard Rotom resTalk set. Rest/Sleep Talk for recovery. Will-o-Wisp to cut attack, given the oh-so-physical state of the metagame today, crippling physical sweepers. Discharge for an electric type STAB attack, so Starmie can run Grass Knot without too much trouble, and it has a handy 30% pparalysis rate.

EVs are standard, no changes made. This guy has great bulk all around - it has saved me many times. I debated putting Toxic over Will-O-Wisp to kill off dedicated walls, but Will-O-Wisp just makes this guy able to stick around for so much longer, and in terms of HP draining, Toxic and burn do the same after three turns anyway. My main staus absorber and general annoyer.

Zephyr (Flygon) @ Choice Scarf, Levitate

Jolly Nature
EVs: 252Atk/4SDef/252Spe

Earthquake
U-Turn
Outrage
Fire Blast

Standard Choice Scarf set. U-Turn for scouting, Earthquake for STAB and coverage. At the moment, I am using Outrage, but am tossing up whether to use Dragon Claw to escape being locked into it. But it hasn't really been too big an issue. As for Stone Edge and Fire Blast, I'm torn between them. Used them both, both have proved useful... recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

STandard EVs, Jolly nature to force the speed tie with other base 100s. This guy revenge kills like no other...maybe excluding Heatran and Scizor. but Heatran shares wekanesses with Metagross and Tyranitar, and Scizor can be put to other uses without too much difficulty, while this is Flygon's most reliable set. The resistances/immunities this guy provides are amazing for my team. My all-purpose scout and revenge killer, he works wonders.

Fire Blast to take out Skarmory, rather than Stone Edge, then Fire Punch which I had before. Fire Punch was for accuracy, and they had about the same power due to stats, but yes, Fire Blast just ensures Skarmory can't cause trouble.

Stryker (Scizor) @ Choice band, Technician

Adamant Nature
EVs: 148HP/192Atk/152SpD/16Spe

Superpower
Bullet Punch
U-turn
Pursuit

Scizor is now using Choice Band, so as to provide more 'glue' for the team, rather than try and sweep. A second revenge killer works really well for me.

OHKO gengar with Bullet punch or Pursuit, which it couldn't do with Iron Plate, and Heatran and Magnezone with Superpower without having to set up as i had to with Swords Dance and Brick break.

The EVS may look complicated, but are based off corncake22's post. The Speed EVs allow it to outpace standard 12EV Vaporeon, the HP and Sp.Def mean it is guaranteed to survive Jolly Flygon's Fire Blast, and I tweaked the EVS slightly for a little more attack, meaning that after one turn of Life Orb recoil, without including Stealth Rock or Sandstorm, Scizor must hit absolute bottom to let Gengar survive Bullet Punch on 1HP.

Zenegade (Tyranitar) @ Leftovers

Jolly Nature
EVs: /248Atk/12Def/248Spe

Crunch
Stone Edge
Fire Punch/Earthquake
Dragon Dance

Ahhh... Dragon Dance Tyanitar. If I can bring this in on something that has been burned, I start boosting and sweep. Crunch and Stone Edge for STAB, Fire Punch for all Steels bar Heatran, or Earthquake otherwise, but then i lose coverage on stuff like Scizor and Skarmory. Dragon Dance...becouase it's a DDTar.

EVs are fairly standard. Just nitpicking, but one dragon Dance would boost Attack and Speed without taking the last point that makes them odd stats into account. So figured might use them more productively, and threw them into defense. Anyway, was considering a Choice Scarf set, so it can comei n and out more easily, but am unsure. I don't like Choice items too much, and am already using one.

Anyway, given its SDef boost from sandstorm, if it comes in on something that's burned and can't really do much against me, I dragon Dance up. Debating leftovers to recover damage taken while boosting...any thoughts? Then i proceed to sweep. This is usually late game, but really would like to get it in earlier so my opponents pokemon suffer sand storm damage.

Now using leftovers, due to it dying too quickly.

anyways that's my team. Any thoughts, comments, issues you see with it, please let me know! =)

 

[Starbuck]

Pretty good looking team but I'd consider putting a Scarf on Rotom-H and giving it an offensive moveset. Lucario hurts you badly; a bit of prior damage on Flygon and it will succumb to a +2 LO Extremespeed. I'd also put a Babiri Berry on Tyranitar and give it Fire Punch, that way opposing Scizor won't ruin your sweep. Opposing Rotoms give you trouble so a bulky Heatran will probably work better than Metagross.

 

[Defenda14]

Few minor changes - decided on thunderbolt on starmie - swampert just wasn't giveing me enough trouble to validate using grass knot, sticking with hydro pmp for now, but had some issues with it's accuracy...missed three times in a row =(
Tempeted to run explosion over earthqauke on Metagross once more, cause i could really do with it
Still torn over Flygon, now debating fire punch as well,, about the same power as fire blast, given its stats, and perfect accuracy
Scizor's still not doing it's job, and am now running leftovers on DDTar, cause it's dying too quickly

 

[Piccolo]

This may sound rather simple, but why not just change your Swords Dancing Scizor to the (standard) Choice Banded Scizor if its not pulling its weight so far? You already have a stat-upping sweeper in Tyranitar. As we all know, CB'd U-Turns do good damage and get you favorable match-ups.

I suggest Fire Blast on your Flygon to hit the Steel-types. Rotom already beats Gyara and out-stalls Zapdos. That way, your Tyranitar can run the more solid attack Earthquake.

I really care about accuracy. One turn can turn the tables... That's why I would prefer Surf on Starmie. Free turns of set-up/attacking for the opponent can spell doom for you.

Definitely run Explosion over Earthquake on Metagross. Though you say Swampert hasn't been giving you enough trouble, your team doesn't have an immediate solution to it. U-Turns & Surfs from Scizor & Starmie will hurt, but a quick Explosion will do the trick instantly. ;)

 

[Defenda14]

Reply @ Piccolo

Hey
Thanks for the rate. the main reason to my using Scizor as I do is because I hate relying on Choice items. But I guess I should give it a shot. So will do - thanks.
As for Flygon, Tyranitar's Stone Edge will certainly hit harder, I guess. But then come's the question of fire blast or fire punch. Accuracy or damage output to Skarmory, essentially. Jirachi's defenses are equal, no difference, but relying on earthquake to take it, with so many ground immunities in ou is risky. So might opt for Fire Punch instead, as Skarmory doesn't really threaten the team that much.
And yeah, heads up to Explosion on Metagross

Thanks heaps for your input! =)

 

[Piccolo]

Hey
Thanks for the rate. the main reason to my using Scizor as I do is because I hate relying on Choice items. But I guess I should give it a shot. So will do - thanks.
As for Flygon, Tyranitar's Stone Edge will certainly hit harder, I guess. But then come's the question of fire blast or fire punch. Accuracy or damage output to Skarmory, essentially. Jirachi's defenses are equal, no difference, but relying on earthquake to take it, with so many ground immunities in ou is risky. So might opt for Fire Punch instead, as Skarmory doesn't really threaten the team that much.
And yeah, heads up to Explosion on Metagross

Thanks heaps for your input! =)

:/ I know whatcha mean, but it does pull the team together. ;) It fails to disappoint. ;o Faking the CB set with Iron Plate/Metal Coat is quite fun, but it makes me uneasy to be unable to OHKO healthy Gengars with Bullet Punch. Seeing how Gengar doesn't have a good counter here besides Scizor, you may want to re-think Scizor's held item...

Fire Punch won't hurt Skarmory very much - less than a third of Skarmory's HP. Easily Roosted off. Fire Blast, on the other hand, is a 2HKO. That's why even I who cares so much about accuracy lets this go.

Speaking of Flygon, I forgot to suggest running an Adamant nature instead of a Jolly one. Without Salamence and its base 100 Speed, you could opt for more power. I don't believe any of the Agility users will outspeed neutral-natured Scarfed base 100's without any prior boosts.

And you're welcome! ;o I really like this team. Lol :D It looks a lot like my own team actually. e_e''' The only thing I didn't think about was Tyranitar...

 

[Defenda14]

Come On...550 view with 7 comments, half of them from me??
Bump, I say

 

[Manaphy]

I'm sorry, but i don't know how to get this image.

You need to get the Image, and press the PrintScreen Button(PrtSrn on some computers), then go to an Image editing program,(Microsoft Paint will do) and crop anything you don't want. Then upload it to an Image hosting site, such as Photobucket, and then post the code here.


I know It sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. Nice Team BTW.

 

[corncake22]

Hi there looking at your team I noticed that you have a pretty solid team overall and have a great job with the team.

Starmie- Great offensive lead also I use it too and I know how good it is. I recommend you might want to have Hydro Pump> Surf because Hydro Pump's power is alot more better on the long run > surf. Surf may be great for fragile leads and such but you can 2HKO-3HKO a swampert depending on investment and always 1HKO-2HKO with hydro pump. You can also get 1HKO-2HKO on Metagross leads, and you can get the OHKO on Scizor depending on investment. Hydro Pump> Surf overall. Thunderbolt and Ice beam standard and rapid spin is good for your team overall but recover heals you up. If you rely on starmie heavy I recommend you use recover but if you need starmie more team supporting go for rapid spin.

Metagross- Good enough opposing steels and fire types will destroy this metagross just be careful about that. You might wanna replace gross for something else because rotom-h can counter machamp because you run no speed evs so you are slower then machamp so payback does even less.

Rotom-H- your team is offensive so I don't think that rotom suits you unless you desperately need a status absorber or a extra counter for machamp. Scarf like Piccolo said if you don't need the status absorber with a spread of something like 228hp/24SpA/252speed for bulky while still retaining speed. Scarf Rotom also counters SD luke better as it mauls through your team.

Flygon- Keep it at jolly since agility gross is rising up in usage and they run enough speed to outspeed after agility a adamant scarf gon so keep jolly. Fireblast>firepunch for the 2hko on skarm like Piccolo said.

Scizor- This spread is all crazy and I recommend this because it works nicely.
160hp/172attack/16speed(too outspeed the common new standard 12 speed vappy's) and the rest into special defence. Sorry for not remembering the spread I'm kinda in a rush of time :[ sorry.

Tyranitar- well this bad boy if you want to counter scizor go with fire punch and babiri if your not looking for a dd scizor trap no babriir berry and go for the EQ not fire punch. Lefties is fine but you can also go life orb for that extra power or you can have a expert belt to bluff a scarf or band maybe even babari berry (do not risk on scizor if you have expert belt unless you are 100 percent sure he won't go for bullet punch or you on a 1 on 1 situation) If you do use life orb or lefties it kinda ruins what spread its going to be unless you have life orb and you never use a move until late game but you just send it out for sandstorm they will never know what spread it is and assume scarf most likely and when there ddtar counters are gone or lategame you whop them.

sorry if this is long and for the spelling mistakes and the rushing but overall
nice team and good luck
:@ i'll shut up now

if you want a team builder chart thing I'll PM you the link or w/e
NOW I'LL SHUT UP

 

[Piccolo]

Rotom-H- your team is offensive so I don't think that rotom suits you unless you desperately need a status absorber or a extra counter for machamp. Scarf like Piccolo said if you don't need the status absorber with a spread of something like 228hp/24SpA/252speed for bulky while still retaining speed. Scarf Rotom also counters SD luke better as it mauls through your team.

Flygon- Keep it at jolly since agility gross is rising up in usage and they run enough speed to outspeed after agility a adamant scarf gon so keep jolly. Fireblast>firepunch for the 2hko on skarm like Piccolo said.

o_o''' I did not say anything about Scarfing Rotom-H, but it does counter Lucario well. However, Scarfing Rotom would make 3 Choice users... :/ Unless Defenda's willing to try a (sorta gimmicky) Mix Life Orb Flygon.

I thought most AgiliGross (if they are seen) run the standard 132 Speed EVs to boost bulk and power. I suppose leaving Flygon at Jolly would be OK, but I would rather take advantage of no longer having to match DD'd Mence's Speed.

 

[Defenda14]

hey guys, thanks again for the rates.
Yeah, I already have two Choiced items on my team, and am not going for a third. If i Scarf Rotom, then i need a replacement for either Flygon or Scizor. The synergy between the team at the moment thought just works really well, and don't really want to mess it up.
However if someone finds a pokemon immune to ground and resisting electric, flygon can go...

Rotom will probs end up staying defensive though, as its role as a status absorber saves me again and again...

Back to Hydro Pump on Starmie, and seriously considering Recover over Rapid Spin...Metagross now has Earthquake and Explosion, along with its Stealth Rock and Bullet Punch
Love the EVs spread on Scizor, thanks heaps corncake22 =)

Tyranitar is for now staying as is, but is still in debate over fire punch/earthquake and item.
Babiri berry - Starmie, Metagross and Flygon can all take Scizor down
Rotom can live through it if it burns it
Leftovers - certainly increases its survivability
Life Orb - just died too quickly for my liking
Expert Belt - middle ground between Leftovers and Life Orb - now testing it out =)

 

[Slater]

Why are you running anti-lead starmie and leadgross why not chang him to agiligross

 

[corncake22]

Piccolo people are smart now and they run 196 speed evs so after a agility from gross they outspeed adamant flygon and that is the new standard. For Scizor I recommend you switching the hp too 248hp/192attack/16speed/ and the rest shoved into Special defence since the 248 hp is a SR mark so it will do slightly less damage but thats prefrence.

Slater he uses the SR one for rocks espically when Starmie can maul mostly all the common leads he can switch metagross with the good synergy between the 2 as well. and so he can have even more damage with SR. So 12 percent from SR from most of the pokemon about 6 percent off sandstorm is 18 percent which already takes about 1/5 of the pokemon and helps Tyranitar sweep alittle better.

Good luck hopefully again :D

 

[Piccolo]

Piccolo people are smart now and they run 196 speed evs so after a agility from gross they outspeed adamant flygon and that is the new standard. For Scizor I recommend you switching the hp too 248hp/192attack/16speed/ and the rest shoved into Special defence since the 248 hp is a SR mark so it will do slightly less damage but thats prefrence.

D:< Damn them! That is what I would do though... >_>; I guess you're right then. The difference in Attack isn't too great anyway, and it's not worth losing a race against AgiliGross.

Is that spread for Scizor to live through more Surfs and perhaps surprise Hidden Power Fires? :o Saddens me that it can no longer Bullet Punch Gengar for the OHKO though... That was a past issue with this team.

 

[Defenda14]

Scizor's EVs give it more special bulk, and ensure it survives a jolly Flygon's Fire Blast, while 2HKOing it with Bullet Punch
At minimum damage, Bullet Punch does like 234 to Gengar. 234 + 26 (1 turn of life orb recoil) = 260, while Gengar's minmum HP is 261. If gengar switches into staelth rock, BP is still an OHKO.

 

[Piccolo]

Scizor's EVs give it more special bulk, and ensure it survives a jolly Flygon's Fire Blast, while 2HKOing it with Bullet Punch
At minimum damage, Bullet Punch does like 234 to Gengar. 234 + 26 (1 turn of life orb recoil) = 260, while Gengar's minmum HP is 261. If gengar switches into staelth rock, BP is still an OHKO.

Oh. >_>; I thought the difference would be much wider...

That works then. I guess there's no need to worry about Substituting Gengars either because they won't be recovering enough health to survive a BP after they use Substitute. ;D

:) Well I learned something new today. Lol Can this Scizor survive a HP Fire from Defensive Celebi though? :O I'm starting to like this more and more...

 

[Defenda14]

Indeed it can survive standard defensive Celebi's HP Fire, no worries =)
In fact it can survive Hidden Power from celebi, assuming max ivs and evs and any nature that doesn't boost Sp.atk, but only just.
U-turn is still an OHKO, doing a minimum of 540 damage to standard bold, 220EV def celebi. =)
Pursuit however, lacks the power to 2HKO now, but with U-turn, doesn't really matter =)

 

[Piccolo]

Indeed it can survive standard defensive Celebi's HP Fire, no worries =)
In fact it can survive Hidden Power from celebi, assuming max ivs and evs and any nature that doesn't boost Sp.atk, but only just.
U-turn is still an OHKO, doing a minimum of 540 damage to standard bold, 220EV def celebi. =)
Pursuit however, lacks the power to 2HKO now, but with U-turn, doesn't really matter =)

:o!!
>:{D Excellent...
Of course. :P Quadruple weakness.

:o I might just run my Scizor's spread differently as well. I think it is worth giving up the extra HP that helps against physical attacks. There really shouldn't be much physical attacks hitting Scizor anyway...