The title is taken from one of my favourite albums, Blast Tyrant by hard rockers Clutch.
Blast Tyrant
That aside, I think it is important to say that I haven't been playing Pokémon for nearly a year and completely avoided everything but the offtopic threads on smogon, thus I got completely steamrolled by the fifth generation and all its additions. Last week, I actually got interested in all of it again, so I decided to lurk a bit and build a team.
Team-building process:
The team in detail:
Haxorus (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Dragon Claw
Haxorus is supposed to be the powerhouse of the team. Right of the bat, I'll try to rip gigantic holes in the enemy team with its over-the-top attack stat. Usually, it can critically injure everything it faces with Outrage. Earthquake and Brick Break provide massive coverage so that nothing will be able to safely switch in this monster. Dragon Claw is rarely used, but when I don't want to get locked in Outrage, it is a solid replacement.
EVs are pretty standard and so is the set. Most of the time, it's either that I'll just attack straight off or switch to one of my defensive Pokémon to block the upcoming attack.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
: Heatran, Ferrothorn
: Heatran
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Heatran covers the weaknesses of Haxodus and provides other useful traits. With Air Balloon, it can easily come in on Ground-type moves once and revengekill the hopefully slower Pokémon. Fire Blast and Earth Power and the STAB moves used the most obviously and both together provide great coverage. Hidden Power [Ice] is used to hit those pesky dragons that would get in the way otherwise. I'll usually try to use Stealth Rock first when expecting the opponent to switch out.
I thought about giving him Choice Scarf or Life Orb, but I somehow believe the Air Balloon to be too valuable. EVs are standard.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
: Latios
: Latios (after Air Balloon is gone)
: Haxorus, Latios, Ferrothorn
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Scald
Swampert is used to defend me on the physical spectrum. It provides the much-needed rock resistance and is usually bulky enough to stop a sweep or two. More so than Heatran, it is the Pokémon I'll use for Stealth Rock as it has a much better chance to do so. Earthquake is the main STAB move, while Ice Beam covers the Dragon-type Pokémon. Scald, aside from being another STAB move, has a neat chance to burn the opponent, thus allowing me to cripple physical threats.
Set and EVs are pretty standard.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
: Haxorus, Heatran, Latios, Ferrothorn
Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
My special sweeper and the fastest member in my team, Starmie provides excellent coverage and is used to take out weakened Pokémon and the like. Hydro Pump is the main STAB move and can, when it hits, rip big holes in the opposite team. Ice Beam and Thunderbolt provide further coverage so that nothing can easily switch in it. Recover can help in crucial moments and also heals off the damage done by Life Orb (when I get the chance to do it).
Set and EVs are standard.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
: Heatran
: Heatran, Ferrothorn
: Haxorus, Heatran, Latios, Ferrothorn
: Swampert, Haxorus, Latios, Ferrothorn
: Heatran, Ferrothorn
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover
Latios is my second special sweeper and ought to destroy everything left with its above-average speed. With Levitate and plenty of resistances, it can easily be switched in. Usually, I will fire off a powerful Draco Meteor to see scout the enemy team. Draco Meteor (coupled with Life Orb) usually takes a lot of HP of everything besides Steel-type Pokémon. Surf and Hidden Power [Fire] give me some additional coverage while Recover lets me recover.
Sets and EVs are standard.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
: Heatran
: Heatran, Ferrothorn
: Heatran, Ferrothorn
: Heatran, Ferrothron
: Heatran
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyroball
- Protect
The last Pokémon is another one from Gen 5 and probably (most likely) the defensive core. It has resistances to more than half of the types and is really difficult to take down. Spikes, together with Stealth Rock, will seriously damage every opponent switching in. Add Leech Seed and you got a Pokémon that will annoy the hell out of you. Gyroball provides some needed offensive power so that faster Dragon-type Pokémon will be damaged. Protect is used for a free turn of Leech Seed damage.
Set and EVs are standard.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
: Haxorus, Heatran, Swampert, Starmie (ugh), Latios
: Latios
I hope you enjoyed reading this and can assist me. Since I have no boosting moves and/or a Choice Scarf attached, the team can be pretty slow and be seriously injured by Scarf'd and other fast sweepers. Like I said in the opening paragraph, I'm not really used to the new metagame so I can probably be destroyed by a single Pokémon I didn't take into account.
Thanks in advance for the help (and thanks to Wario is OSSIM for the style of this RMT).
Blast Tyrant
That aside, I think it is important to say that I haven't been playing Pokémon for nearly a year and completely avoided everything but the offtopic threads on smogon, thus I got completely steamrolled by the fifth generation and all its additions. Last week, I actually got interested in all of it again, so I decided to lurk a bit and build a team.
Team-building process:
To be honest, I got pretty surprised at the latest statistics and how much has changed since Gen 5 charged in. Several Pokémon I thought would never reappear in OU are in the Top 20 and Pokémon once dominating faded away.
For my team, I decided to incorporate a few 5th Gen Pokémon and mostly stick to Pokémon who have success in the new metagame. The problem I had (and still have) is that I don't know all about the offensive threats (and their movesets), so I am probably easily weak to a Pokémon or two.
At first, I looked at the "new" Pokémon and searched for a Pokémon that'd be a great asset to the team. The most appealing Pokémon out of those was Haxorus. It seemed to a lot of fire power and its stats convinced me to give it a try.
So, Haxorus' main weaknesses are ice and dragon, so I obviously tried to cover those and searched for a Pokémon who could easily switch in those attacks. Obvious contenders were Steel-type Pokémon who show resistance to both of those types. I eventually decided that Heatran who also boasts a great offensive power would help the team a lot.
Since I had no defensive threat up until now, I had to bulk up a bit. For whatever reason, I came across Swampert who had good synergy with the rest of the team. He is sturdy enough to handle threats and its sole weakness is easily covered by Heatran.
Starmie was always one of my favourite sweepers and it would speed up my team a bit. It has great coverage and can deal with lotsa different Pokémon, so I thought that it would greatly assist the team.
Here, I noticed that I am pretty weak to Ground-attacks, since none of my Pokémon could take several hits (or even two) by CB'd Earthquakes (or similarly powerful hits), so I needed a Pokémon who could evade those attacks. Obviously, it had to be either a flying-type Pokémon or one with Levitate. I went with the latter, because Stealth Rock seriously damages most of the flying-type Pokémon. I added Latios to the team. It is a really strong sweeper who also resisted several types that could bother me.
So it was time for the last Pokémon and I definitely lacked another defensive Pokémon and the one who definitely stood out was Ferrothorn with its amazing type combination and excellent defensive stats/movepool. It had a shitton of resistances that would help my team not get stomped immediately.
For my team, I decided to incorporate a few 5th Gen Pokémon and mostly stick to Pokémon who have success in the new metagame. The problem I had (and still have) is that I don't know all about the offensive threats (and their movesets), so I am probably easily weak to a Pokémon or two.
At first, I looked at the "new" Pokémon and searched for a Pokémon that'd be a great asset to the team. The most appealing Pokémon out of those was Haxorus. It seemed to a lot of fire power and its stats convinced me to give it a try.
So, Haxorus' main weaknesses are ice and dragon, so I obviously tried to cover those and searched for a Pokémon who could easily switch in those attacks. Obvious contenders were Steel-type Pokémon who show resistance to both of those types. I eventually decided that Heatran who also boasts a great offensive power would help the team a lot.
Since I had no defensive threat up until now, I had to bulk up a bit. For whatever reason, I came across Swampert who had good synergy with the rest of the team. He is sturdy enough to handle threats and its sole weakness is easily covered by Heatran.
Starmie was always one of my favourite sweepers and it would speed up my team a bit. It has great coverage and can deal with lotsa different Pokémon, so I thought that it would greatly assist the team.
Here, I noticed that I am pretty weak to Ground-attacks, since none of my Pokémon could take several hits (or even two) by CB'd Earthquakes (or similarly powerful hits), so I needed a Pokémon who could evade those attacks. Obviously, it had to be either a flying-type Pokémon or one with Levitate. I went with the latter, because Stealth Rock seriously damages most of the flying-type Pokémon. I added Latios to the team. It is a really strong sweeper who also resisted several types that could bother me.
So it was time for the last Pokémon and I definitely lacked another defensive Pokémon and the one who definitely stood out was Ferrothorn with its amazing type combination and excellent defensive stats/movepool. It had a shitton of resistances that would help my team not get stomped immediately.
The team in detail:
Haxorus (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Dragon Claw
Haxorus is supposed to be the powerhouse of the team. Right of the bat, I'll try to rip gigantic holes in the enemy team with its over-the-top attack stat. Usually, it can critically injure everything it faces with Outrage. Earthquake and Brick Break provide massive coverage so that nothing will be able to safely switch in this monster. Dragon Claw is rarely used, but when I don't want to get locked in Outrage, it is a solid replacement.
EVs are pretty standard and so is the set. Most of the time, it's either that I'll just attack straight off or switch to one of my defensive Pokémon to block the upcoming attack.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Heatran covers the weaknesses of Haxodus and provides other useful traits. With Air Balloon, it can easily come in on Ground-type moves once and revengekill the hopefully slower Pokémon. Fire Blast and Earth Power and the STAB moves used the most obviously and both together provide great coverage. Hidden Power [Ice] is used to hit those pesky dragons that would get in the way otherwise. I'll usually try to use Stealth Rock first when expecting the opponent to switch out.
I thought about giving him Choice Scarf or Life Orb, but I somehow believe the Air Balloon to be too valuable. EVs are standard.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Scald
Swampert is used to defend me on the physical spectrum. It provides the much-needed rock resistance and is usually bulky enough to stop a sweep or two. More so than Heatran, it is the Pokémon I'll use for Stealth Rock as it has a much better chance to do so. Earthquake is the main STAB move, while Ice Beam covers the Dragon-type Pokémon. Scald, aside from being another STAB move, has a neat chance to burn the opponent, thus allowing me to cripple physical threats.
Set and EVs are pretty standard.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
My special sweeper and the fastest member in my team, Starmie provides excellent coverage and is used to take out weakened Pokémon and the like. Hydro Pump is the main STAB move and can, when it hits, rip big holes in the opposite team. Ice Beam and Thunderbolt provide further coverage so that nothing can easily switch in it. Recover can help in crucial moments and also heals off the damage done by Life Orb (when I get the chance to do it).
Set and EVs are standard.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover
Latios is my second special sweeper and ought to destroy everything left with its above-average speed. With Levitate and plenty of resistances, it can easily be switched in. Usually, I will fire off a powerful Draco Meteor to see scout the enemy team. Draco Meteor (coupled with Life Orb) usually takes a lot of HP of everything besides Steel-type Pokémon. Surf and Hidden Power [Fire] give me some additional coverage while Recover lets me recover.
Sets and EVs are standard.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
Ferrothorn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyroball
- Protect
The last Pokémon is another one from Gen 5 and probably (most likely) the defensive core. It has resistances to more than half of the types and is really difficult to take down. Spikes, together with Stealth Rock, will seriously damage every opponent switching in. Add Leech Seed and you got a Pokémon that will annoy the hell out of you. Gyroball provides some needed offensive power so that faster Dragon-type Pokémon will be damaged. Protect is used for a free turn of Leech Seed damage.
Set and EVs are standard.
Synergy with the rest of the team:
I hope you enjoyed reading this and can assist me. Since I have no boosting moves and/or a Choice Scarf attached, the team can be pretty slow and be seriously injured by Scarf'd and other fast sweepers. Like I said in the opening paragraph, I'm not really used to the new metagame so I can probably be destroyed by a single Pokémon I didn't take into account.
Thanks in advance for the help (and thanks to Wario is OSSIM for the style of this RMT).
