My first team.

Sheeno

Hey there everyone, just registered. I've been following Pokémon for a while now, and have decided to get into competitive battling. I just downloaded Pokémon Online, and somewhat hastily threw together a team. Surprisingly enough, it seems to be working - I'm winning more than I'm losing - but I've noticed a common theme in my defeats. It's not particularly tactical; the only real thought I had was "paralysis is annoying; let's paralyse the opponent's team". Unsurprisingly, my reliance on Thunder Wave means I often get walled by Ground-types. Aside from that, I gave little consideration to weather. My team thrives somewhat in the sun, but rain- and sand-teams (of which there are many) are particularly a menace. I know it's cheeky posting a team here which I haven't properly thought through, but I have had moderate success with it, so I'd just like a bit of fine-tuning so I can continue with it. If you think it's crap and I've just been lucky, however, then please say so!

Ferrothorn (M) @ Rocky Helmet <- Replaced with Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes <- Replaced with Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip <- Replaced with Protect
- Thunder Wave

So, this guy's my lead, and to be honest, he seems to be the only weak link. When I saw him on paper, he looked so awesome, and I have heard that half the metagame is based around him (it doesn't seem to be a team staple as much as other Pokémon from my experience, though). Often people forfeit straight away when they see him, so I can only imagine he is not well liked! The entry hazards really don't seem as effective as they were in my limited experience with Gen IV, though, and aside from that, he's not all that useful. Original tactic was to get the entry hazards set up and hopefully paralyse something, but eh, it rarely seems to work that way.



Eelektross (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Coil <- Replaced with Crunch
- Thunder <- Replaced with Thunderbolt
- Brick Break
- Hidden Power [Ice]

He seems really good. People don't seem able to predict him, although I must admit I very rarely actually get a chance to set-up with Coil. Perhaps that should be changed for another attacking move? Its synergy with Thunder has proved useful in the past, though. I can justify the lack of the Speed investment throughout my team on that fact that I based it around paralysis; something to outspeed those Grounds would be useful, though.



Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Surf
- Recover
- Confuse Ray
- Taunt

I only really chose this guy due to his synergy with Ferrothorn. I must admit, though, that he has proved frightfully useful in the past, much more so than the aforementioned Pokémon. I'm really surprised that more people don't mention how useful Confuse Ray is, because it's got me out of several sticky situations. I know most run Will-O-Wisp on it, but I deemed it redundant with the focus on paralysis in my team, and besides, it's nice to surprise the opponent.



Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Ah, now these last three Pokémon have probably proved the most useful of all, not to discredit Eelektross and Jellicent in any way. His Ice Shard is perfect for all those Dragons that are in abundance, and really helps with the Grounds who refuse to get paralysed, so I really haven't got a bad word to say against his performance. I am tempted to put a Choice Band on him and as a result get rid of Icicle Crash; sorry to appear so amateurish, but I must confess that I thought he had one until I got this team's information from PO and have been using him as such (yes, the fact it said "lost health due to Life Orb" never occurred to me >.<). Still, he's been dominating even with my foolishly only using one 1.3x boosted attack, which surely is quite the testament to his strength. So, what do you reckon: keep it as it is, or CB him and maybe alter the moveset slightly?



Togekiss (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Roost

This thing rocks, and I'd feel uncomfortable changing it any way. I've won a fair few games by using two or three Nasty Plots and sweeping. Don't know what else to say really, but if you do have any recommendations for how to
change him, I'd obviously love to hear them.



Darmanitan (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 126 Def / 126 SDef <- Changed to 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Rock Slide

Man, that Flare Blitz absolutely shreds. I've been amazed at some of the things this has killed, even in spite of resistances. Again, he has proved extremely effective, so I don't know what else to say. Changes of course welcome.



Maybe I've been a bit presumptuous in thinking this team is in any way near effective enough to be posted here, especially with how much of a noob I come across with my several faux pas, but I'd mainly just like some feedback from you guys so I can get more of a footing on the whole concept of competitive battling. If it were up to me, I'd get rid of Ferrothorn, use a different Pokémon in my party to lead (any ideas which?) and replace it with something that is fast and can provide problems for Rain- and Sand-teams. I was thinking Ninetales, and then perhaps altering my team slightly to cater for the sun (probably have to get rid of Jellicent in that case). Or maybe even putting in something like Altaria. So yeah, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Okay, Togekiss definitely needs a change. Has it met Starmie yet? You should probably get rid of t-wave. since it's a sweeper, it really needs another move to go along with that nasty plot. i'm not sure on what moves it can learn, so i can't really suggest another one... sorry.
 
Thanks for the recommendation. In gen IV, I had Aura Sphere on it instead of Nasty Plot, but that wouldn't help with Starmie. I've found it to be much, much more effective with Nasty Plot anyway. Removing Thunder Wave would be viable though, so long as I had another Pokémon who could paralyse... which I wouldn't if I got rid of Ferrothorn too. I just figure if I have no Pokémon with TW, I'd also need to readjust EV's and perhaps natures to be more speed-centric. I suppose that's possible, although I do enjoy the greater bulkiness that comes with their current stat spreads.
 
Trust me, ferrothorn will do its job with t-wave. and you won't need to readjust anything. aura sphere wouldnt be a bad trade for t wave. also, id definitely think about investing some speed evs into togekiss.
 
This is just a thought but if you really want to keep with this paralyze theme and you're looking for something to use on ground or electric pokemon maybe consider running a grass type with stun spore as that is another good paralysis option and it resists both those types. You could also run a pokemon with high Atk, and giving it the move Body Slam as it has a 30% chance to paralyze which is pretty decent a good option for that would be Throh.
 
evan1o1 said:
Okay, Togekiss definitely needs a change. Has it met Starmie yet? You should probably get rid of t-wave. since it's a sweeper, it really needs another move to go along with that nasty plot. i'm not sure on what moves it can learn, so i can't really suggest another one... sorry.
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me? It is called ParaFlinch the Togekiss set he has. It is perfectly fine and there is abolutely nothing wrong with it.

Anyway try it with Cheer UP > Nasty Plot and Body Slam > Thunder Wave. Also give Ferrothorn a form of recovery and Darmitan max speed.

GL
 
Thanks everyone, I listened to what you've said and made the following changes:

Ferrothorn:

I dropped Spikes and Power Whip in exchange for Leech Seed and Protect, and changed Rocky Helmet for Leftovers. Were these good moves? I really miss Spikes, and it's a shame to drop the occasionally useful Power Whip... Argh, I really need some help with this guy. I can certainly see how he has potential now.


Eelektross:

Replaced Coil with Crunch and Thunder with Thunderbolt. I'm happy with the result, although I'd like to know if I can go for better coverage than Crunch/Brick Break/Thunderbolt/Hidden Power Ice. Flamethrower, Grass Knot, Rock Slide, Wild Charge and U-Turn/Volt Switch are all possibilities.


Jellicent:

No change.


Mamoswine:

No change. Tempted to replace Icicle Crash with Icicle Spear in order to break down substitutes. Thoughts?


Togekiss:

No change.


Darmanitan:

Replaced all defensive EV's with 252 speed. Don't regret it; should I think about Jolly nature or Choice Scarf?


I'd be really hesitant to remove Eelektross, Togekiss or Mamoswine from my team. Those things absolutely rock. If you think I should introduce a different Pokémon, I'd say that Ferrothorn has been the least useful, and Darmanitan and Jellicent have both been rather effective but I could live with changing them.
 
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