Team [insert a fancy name here]

Jassim

Well, about a month ago I came back into poke's. I was doing good with an old team until...mence got banned. I've been using some mediocre teams since then and, until yesterday, I decided I'd make a worthy team to ladder with. I laddered on PO for a couple of hours and broke the top 50 spot quite easily. I'd appreciate all rates to improve this team as it's no-where near my/the best it could be.

Onto the team:


jirachi.png

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- Trick
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch

Standard Jirachi lead. Iron head is for machamp, azelf and rades to flinch them before they can sleep me or set-up. Ice punch is for a 2ko on gliscor. I've changed my mind and have decided to keep Ice punch as in this once game this guy had an agility gliscor >.>. It critted my gyara and taunted my pert so I thought I'd keep the ice punch on rachi. It also helps me to check Dragonite and Flygon. It lets me scout later on in the game and I just send in Gyarados on gliscor to scare it away. Fire punch is for Forretress leads and such. Trick is for Perts and Skarms. This beats most leads, barring heatran, which I just u-turn on anyway. I usually prefer to use an SR lead but I decided for a change of pace that would give me the early momentum.


swampert.png

Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam

I decided on Pert as my SR user. I've never really liked using pert as mix mence ran through it but it's one of the most reliable SR users in the game. This is also my initial switch in to the ever-so-common Heatrans and Jirachi's. SR is a must. Roar is to beat non bulky gyara-dos and as a last ditch effort against some poke's. If the opponent leads off with a heatran/ninjask I immediately switch to my pert. (I'm considering running protect encase I get exploded on but I need to keep roar for ninjasks and what-not).


heatran.png

Heatran (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Taunt
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Next I chose a heatran. LO heatran works well on this team to take fire-type moves, namely wil-o-wisp, directed at rachi/pert of any fire-type moves. Lo ensures a KO on bulky-dos with HP electric. Earth power is for other trans and coverage. I chose Taunt to be able to use it against blissey so I can switch in gyara and set-up or send in rachi and threaten with flinches. Overall heatran deals lots of damage to slower teams and is an essential part in my fire/water/grass core.

shaymin.png

Shaymin @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 32 HP / 224 Spd / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Seed Flare
- Rest
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Since salamence got the ban-hammer, many teams swapped over to dragonite as their main dragon, or decided to go for a fire/water/grass core, or even go another rout such as stall/semi stall. This is my answer to the first 2. I easily outspeed dragonite and am able to ohko it. Shaymin also handles all water/fire types (not named starmie/infernape) easily. The ev's let me outspeed all base 95 and under pokemon, with no boosts, while retaining maximum sp.att and having a little bit of bulk. I'm not worrying too much about flygon as the majority are scarfed so running max speed just to tie with them is pointless. Shaymin can also double as a status absorber.

gyarados.png

Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP / 72 Atk / 96 Def / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Taunt
- Waterfall
- Bounce

Bulky gyara. I'm sure all of you know what this does, encase you don't keep reading. Gyarados can set-up on quite a few pokemon and can also take hits which is why I chose him. I chose to run taunt as many teams used pokemon such as skarmory, swampert or even hippowdon to roar/whirlwind me away. Taunt turns them into set-up fodder allowing me to easily get two or more dragon dances against them. I chose bounce as it is good secondary stab and ohko's machamp, celebi and other shaymin (usually after 1 DD).

kingdra.png

Kingdra (M) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 144 HP/160 Atk/164 Spd/42 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Rest

I've always liked Kingdra. It has FANTASTIC typing and good bulk which allows it to set-up on threats like Starmie, Vaporeon defensive Celebi..the list goes on and on. In my opinion this is one of the most reliable sweepers. It substitutes on status and can take weak hits like Celebi's grassknot or Vaporeons ice beam easily which is why it was chosen. This is usually kept as a late-game sweeper. Faladran suggested this bulky set over my more offensive DD'r. It takes less damage and allowed me to set-up more DD's. Considering lum over rest for Outrage confusion.


~Thanks for Reading~ ~Thanks for Reading~ ~Thanks for Reading~

Comments: This is a fairly good go at bulky-offense in my opinion but it's nowhere near perfect, I'd appreciate all rates you could give with this and I will be open to all suggestions.

Here's a resistance chart of my team:
Team80452.png

~Thanks to pokemon.marriland.com for the resistances chart~

Edit: The main issue I have is with hyper offense. I can handle a couple of poke's but when things get crazy, like lo zelf and mix ape, the damage piles up on my team and thats the main way, other than hax ofc, which I find myself to be losing. Mainly things like Starmie and Azelf.
 
I prefer HP Grass on Heatran, to hit Swampert although HP Electric isn't a bad choice either. You left out a move on Kingdra, I'm assuming it is Outrage, Good Luck with the team
 
Donphan Phan said:
I prefer HP Grass on Heatran, to hit Swampert although HP Electric isn't a bad choice either. You left out a move on Kingdra, I'm assuming it is Outrage, Good Luck with the team
Click to expand...

Yea thanks for that, fixed the fourth move. I usually run hp-grass but I can easily switch to shaymin to deal with pert. I also can use it as set-up fodder with gyara by taunting it. If necessary I can even trick it a scarf but thanks for the rate ^_^.
 
xtrashine said:
[Insert arab stare here]
ok first of all ._. imo scarf jirachi, and leads have all died out I suggest the colbur berry azelf from [ http://smogon.com/dp/pokemon/azelf ] it does same as jirachi but better, like taunt skarmory or get stealth rocks more often


ALSO if you want you can change kingdra to lucario because you got tran with hp elect killing gyara that stops sweeps from luke and such
Click to expand...

Hmm, thanks for the rates, I like jirachi as I prevent faster, more offensive leads from getting SR up and I also trick more stall-ish poke's. I also switch out rachi so I can use it late game. My team has some troubles with offensive teams as the damage builds up quite easily, especially on the special side. So I like to prevent there nub-zelf from getting SR. I'll try colbur zelf, but first I'll try running SD Luke over kingdra.

Edit: I doubt that luke'll be getting the time to set-up though as I don't have any pursuit weakness' and I have 4 steel resists (not counting kingdra/luke) so I doubt scizor's will be bullet punching. The only thing I can see is a choiced flygon or something stuck on an outrage D:. None-the less I'm still testing it. Had 2 battles where I didn't even have to use luke so far :(.
 
The abundance of Water and Ice type moves on your team ensures that Gliscor won't be a big problem. I'd like to suggest using U-Turn over Ice Punch on your Jirachi lead, as this will allow you to escape from unfavorable situations and scout your opponent's team.

I also noticed that you are planning on utilizing Kingdra as your late game sweeper. Since this means that your opponent's team is most likely substantially weakened by then, try out the new Chesto Rest Kingdra set:

Kingdra (M) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 144 HP/160 Atk/164 Spd/42 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Rest

This set has quite a bit more bulk than the standard SubDD set. Playing it is rather straightforward; simply switch it in to anything you normally would, and continue Dragon Dancing. Rest will recover both your health and any status ailments, while preparing you for a sweep.

Good luck with your team!
 
Faladran said:
The abundance of Water and Ice type moves on your team ensures that Gliscor won't be a big problem. I'd like to suggest using U-Turn over Ice Punch on your Jirachi lead, as this well allow you to escape from unfavorable situations and scout your opponent's team.

I also noticed that you are planning on utilizing Kingdra as your late game sweeper. Since this means that your opponent's team is most likely substantially weakened by then, try out the new Chesto Rest Kingdra set:

Kingdra (M) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 144 HP/160 Atk/164 Spd/42 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Rest

This set has quite a bit more bulk than the standard SubDD set. Playing it is rather straightforward; simply switch it in to anything you normally would, and continue Dragon Dancing. Rest will recover both your health and any status ailments, while preparing you for a sweep.

Good luck with your team!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the rate. I've been looking for a bulkier set and this seems to fit the bill. I'll also test out u-turn on rachi as it would help me scout later in the game.
 
Hey jass, as you saw when i battled your team entry hazards mess you up especially roserade and toxic spikes. I suggest placing starmie over gyarados.

You have kingdra to do the sweeping no need for another DD pokemon.

Jirachi Lead
Starmie
Heatran
Shaymin
Kingdra
swampert

As xtrashine said jirachi leads aint too good at this moment. Maybe metagross lum as your lead ?

If your using jirachi leave that as your sr trick support. and add yawn/toxic to swampert instead of sr. Jirachi will always get its rocks up. I prefer lum berry over chesto berry on kingdra. If your using life orb tran stick hp grass on it so perts cant switch in.

Thats about it really. Good luck with your team jass if i can think of any more advice ill add.

I would just use the rapid spinner starmie set and a standard lum berry adamant dd kingdra no need for rest on it.
 
first off, ramadan kareem brother!
second, as the latter said, jirachi leads aren't that effective anymore. maybe an anti-lead machamp would do you good.

i also agree with having only one dancer on your team. gengar in favor of gyarados, that way you got a special sweeper and a physical sweeper.

other than that, i can't see anything wrong with this team.

hope i helped!
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Ramadan kareem 2 u 2 btw ^_^. I've been using lum meta way 2 much but it's a good lead. I purposefully chose not to use the standard trick SR because it would also double as a late-game sweeper and, no offense Jirachi may seem outdated but it's extremely effective and I only have problems against heatran leads. I'll try using that and changing SR on pert for Yawn/Toxic (I'll test em both) but I'm keeping roar, it's saved my ass many-a-time. Yea I'm considering a spinner, but DD dos is my answer to stall and kind-of a bait-ish thing. I generally taunt and set-up on anything non-electric type. Weaken the enemy team a little bit and try to use kingdra later on. I'll try using a scarf-trick-spin starmie over dos for a bit and see how it works as I like having a revenge killer. I had lo sub DD kingdra with max speed-att but I've switched to this set as it can take hits like starmie's t-bolt and set-up 2 dd's then sweep etc. It's much more bulkier. Also @ ADM, I have a special sweeper in my shaymin and tran :p but I'll try using starmie.

That was a good game @ Ingo but the crit messed me up :p.

Thanks for the rates!
 
First off, I have to agree that scarf Jirachi is not as effective against the common leads, and is also quite predictable.

However there are other trick scarfers that make excellent leads. Namely metagross and Uxie. Personally I think you should use Uxie as it's imune to spikes/toxic spikes, which affect too many members of your team. A set like

Uxie @ Choice scarf
252 hp/104 defence/152 speed
Impish
- Trick
- U-turn
- Stealth rock
- Thunderwave

Uxie is generally regarded as a slow defensive Pokémon, so slapping a Choice Scarf on it can be a big surprise. This set is best used as a lead, where you can force many opposing Pokémon to switch out by Tricking them your Choice Scarf. Azelf, Ambipom, and Aerodactyl will most likely Taunt you, so using Trick on them will force them to switch. In this case, you are free to U-turn to a counter of the Pokémon they bring out. If you are not Taunted, you may set up your own Stealth Rock and proceed to U-turn or status the foe. Uxie also fares well against other leads, even those who will normally not Taunt you. Opposing Choice leads, such as Jirachi, will most likely Trick you, which will only lock them into that move. Uxie's massive bulk comes into play here, as even more powerful leads such as Metagross or Tyranitar can't 2HKO you. Beware of leads like Ambipom, who don't mind Choice Scarf. Roserade and Smeargle may welcome it as well, as it gives them another turn to set up Toxic Spikes or Spikes, respectfully. In such cases, you can, however, reliably set up Stealth Rock and paralyze the foe's speedy lead.


Now this means you don't need to use swampert. Personally I don't swampert in the current metagame, as people are using hp grass over hp ice due to the loss of mence. There is also alot more grass types in OU now, shaymin, celebi, sceptile etc. So you could use a scarf flygon, who is a solid revenge killer, with thuderpunch/outrage/EQ/U-turn allowing him to scout and beat many Ou sweepers. Choice scarf flygon solves your sword dance infernape weakness, as he can OHKO every member of your team.

I prefer to have explosion on my life orb heatrans, because it's useful against stall and Offensive teams. With heatran taking out blissey, you could use an offensive suicune over Gyrados to sweep through stall teams once blissey is dead. Suicune's lack of SR weakness, extra bulk and better coverage make here a better sweeper imo.

I don't think the changes are needed for specific threats, apart from SD infernape, but I think they would improve the team.
 
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