Weatherless team. Volcarona is awesome.

[mazzulmaz]

Hey everyone, welcome by my 2nd RMT. I tried making a team that did not makes any use of weather, since we already have enough of those. I figured that using a non-weather teams against weather teams is pretty hard, and I am having some issues with them, so I hope you guys can help me out ;D. At a first glance:

The team building:

Alright, I'm probably into competitive battling for 6 months now, and I wanted to use some pokemon that I never used before to get familiar with them. I always have a high priority of laying down entry hazards as they are extremely important for your sweepers and wallbreakers. So that's why I decided to take this one as lead:

Alright, now I wanted something that can take some damage, that can stall and can deal a lot of damage. Conkeldurr was a fitting choice for this team.

I needed a strong wallbreaker to make sure Conkeldurr doesn't get stopped. That's when I thought of Latios.

I got a lead, tank and wallbreaker, but I had nothing to revenge kill. Togekiss made her debute her, and she does excellent at that job.

Ok, the only thing that I really missed was a set-up sweaper. Volcarona is very fitting thanks to her Fire typing and Bug buzz, that covers most of Deoxys-S and Latios weaknesses.

Since Volcarona has a 4x SR weakness, I needed a spinner. So there he is, Donphan!

Through the microscope

Adamant nature @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Att/252 Spe
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
-Superpower
-Fire Punch

Since entry hazards have my top priority at the start of a match, I choose this fast one. With a Focus Sash, he is almost guaranteed to lay at least Stealth Rocks and 1 layer of Spikes on the field on anything that doesn't run Taunt. Superpower is to OHKO the frequent Tyranitar leads that I run in to, while Fire Punch kills leads/walls like Ferrothorn, Forretress but also dangerous sweepers like Scizor. I sometimes to catch Whimsicott of guard and surprise it with a Fire Punch, which is nice since Whimsicott is fucking annoying. EVs dont need any explaining I guess.

Adamant nature @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP/252 Att/136 SDef.
-Bulk Up
-Drain Punch
-Mach Punch
-Payback

My tank in the team, and probably tied to the MVP rank along with Volcarona. It walls many sweeping enemy's, can make good use of it's opportunities to set-up and shatter anything that's light with Mach Punch and anything that's big and fat with Drain Punch. Payback checks many pokemon that would normally wall Conkeldurr, especially Ghosts like Gengar. Leftovers is to increase it's longevity and combined with one or two Bulk Ups and Drain Punch, this one can be a pain in the ass to take down. He also serves as a nice status abosrber thanks to Guts, so the rest of my team have to worry about those less. It also checks Blissey and Chansey, so Volcarona can sweep.

Modest nature @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
-Draco Meteor
-Recover
-Surf
-Hidden Power Fire

Oh god, this thing literally shatters walls. Nothing likes to switch in on a 252 SAtk EV'd, Choice Specs Modest STAB Draco Meteor from Latios. Not even Steels like to. Yeah, it checks stuff like Gliscor, Gastrodon, every Dragon that's not faster than me, Heatran, the list goes on. It does an extremely high amount of damage, and it can even finish off already weakened Ferrothorns/Scizors with a Draco Meteor. If you see this flying your way, run. Surf kills stuff like Heatran, and combined with Draco Meteor and HP Fire it gives perfect neutral coverage. I also chose to run Protect. Yes, I am Choiced, but it never hurts to switch in, Recover on the switch and then switch out again.

Timid nature @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Hidden Power Electric
- Trick
Togekiss is my revenge killer, and I do not regret my choice. She does excellent at it, even when she doesn´t succeed in KO´ing the target, she still has a 60% chance to flinch the target. Aura Sphere never misses which is nice and all, but it has a cool 90 BP and brings great coverage to Togekiss. Trick is to stop set-up walls like SD Gliscor, while HP Electric fucks up Gyarados. EVs explain themselves I guess.

Timid nature @ Life Orb
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
-Fiery Dance
-Quiver Dance
-Bug Buzz
-Hidden Power Rock

Man, this thing brought me victory a lot of times, and ties together with Conkeldurr for MVP of the team. It's my only set-up sweeper, and since it also carries a LO I have to play careful with it. EVs explain themselves I guess so I'm not going to explan you why I chose them. Quiver Dance is for set-up, and it's basically a Calm Mind, added with a speed boost. After even 1 Quiver Dance it is already capable of sweeping teams, let alone 2 or 3. Fiery Dance is it's main STAB attack and gives me a nice SAtk boost occasionally. Bug Buzz is my secondary STAB move and hits stuff like Deoxys, Hydreigon and Reuniclus pretty hard. Hidden Power Rock hits stuff like Dragonite, Gyarados and other Volcarona so they won't stop my sweep. Life Orb boosts it's damage even more, making it a dangerous sweeper after a Quiver Dance.

Impish nature @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/4 Att/252 Def
-Rapid Spin
-Ice Shard
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge

Uhm, so yeah, Volcarona is great and all, but it has a 4x weakness to Stealth Rock and it is my only set-uppers so I really needed something to get those rocks away. I didn't want Starmie because I already have to Psychics on my team so enemy's like Gengar would pose to much of a thread. Excadrill is fucking ugly so I didn't wanted it on my team. That's when Donphan came to mind. He's bulky, has a nice STAB Earthquake (one thing that my team currently lacks) and priority Ice Shard. Rapid Spin is to get those hazards away. Ice Shard brings priority and can hit stuff like Gliscor and Dragonite pretty bad. Earthquake is for STAB and Stone Edge brings coverage. Besides from spinning this one doesn't really live up to it's expections though, so I am open for any changes you may think off.

Stuff that I have trouble with are basically weather teams. Sandstorm teams mostly aren´t that bad (except Excabitch), but Sun and especially Rain is extremely annoying.

So yeah, that's the team.
RATES, GO!
​

 

[mazzulmaz]

Bolded = not a thread
Orange = Somewhat of a threat
Red = Huge threat

Offensive threats

Aerodactyl - Latios, Deoxys outspeeds and 2HKO´s, and it is set up fodder for Conkelderp if it doesn´t carry a Flying move. Togekiss also hits it fairly hard but gets KO´d by Stone Edge

Breloom - Togekiss outspeeds and OHKO´s with Air Slash, Latios OHKO´s with Draco Meteor. If it gets a sub up it can be annoying though.

Conkeldurr - Togekiss, Latios (if its a OHKO), Volcarona can set up one Quiver Dance then OHKO.

Darmanitan - Latios, Conkeldurr, Donphan.

Deoxys-S - Well, just attack it? It is so frail.

Dragonite - Latios outspeeds and OHKO´s, Volcarona hits it hard with HP Rock and Donphan does a healthy 35% damage on most variants with Ice Shard

Empoleon - Conkeldurr, Deoxys-S, Latios.

Espeon - Conkeldurr survives a Psychic and OHKO´s with Payback. Volcarona.

Excadrill - Volcarona, Conkeldurr and Latios can easily beat it, but it´s a major pain if it has the sand boost and it gets a Swords Dance up. Sure, Mach Punch Conkelderp does a lot of damage but does not OHKO.

Gengar - Conkeldurr, Volcarona, Scarfkiss.

Gyarados - Togekiss, Latios.

Haxorus - Latios, flinchspam Togekiss. It´s pretty annoying though, but Latios kills it for sure.

Heatran - Latios, Deoxys-S, Togekiss, Conkeldurr.

Heracross - Togekiss, Volcarona (Stone Edge is kind dangerous though).

Hydreigon - Latios, Donphan walls it and hits hard with Ice Shard, Togekiss, Conkeldurr.

Infernape - Togekiss, Latios.

Jirachi - Volcarona, Donphan.

Jolteon - Donphan, Latios.

Kingdra - Latios, Conkeldurr.

Kyurem - Togekiss, Latios, Conkeldurr, Donphan with Stone Edge, Volcarona hits hard with HP Rock.

Landorus - Donphan, Latios.

Latios - My own Latios can risk a Speed tie, other than that Donphan hits it. I don´t have a dragon counter though, so it´s pretty annoying. Volcarona kills it with Bug Buzz.

Lilligant - Volcarona, Deoxys-S, Togekiss.

Lucario - Conkeldurr, Volcarona, Togekiss.

Machamp - Togekiss, Latios.

Magnezone - Volcarona, Donphan.

Mamoswine - Latios survives an Ice Shard and KO´s with Draco Meteor. Donphan hits it hard with Stone Edge, but is also hit badly by it´s Ice moves. Volcarona hurts it pretty bad but outside of Volcarona I have no solid counter to it.

Metagross - Volcarona, Donphan.

Mienshao - Togekiss, Latios.

Reuniclus - Volcarona, Latios.

Roserade - Togekiss, Deoxys-S, Volcarona.

Salamence - Donphan, Latios hits is pretty hard to. Volcarona also hurts it pretty bad, but still this one can cause some serious damage.

Sawsbuck - Togekiss, Volcarona, Latios.

Scizor - Probably the biggest threat to my team. Latios hits it hard with Surf, and Volcarona obviously OHKO´s it, but when Volcarona is gone I have no solid counter, especially against the SD variant.

Scrafty- Togekiss, Latios, Conkeldurr.

Shaymin - Togekiss, Latios, Deoxys-S.

Sigilyph - How the hell is this even a threat? Latios kills it I guess.

Smeargle - Conkeldurr, Latios, Deoxys-S

Starmie - Pretty annoying. Volcarona can hit it hard with Bug Buzz and Latios kills it, but I have no real solid counter to it.

Terakion - Conkeldurr, Latios, Togekiss, Deoxys-S, Donphan. Need to say more?

Thundurus - Also pretty annoying. Donphan obviously beats it with Stone Edge and Deoxys-S can still hit, but they are no solid counters and Latios is probably my only one that can be really considered as ´´Counter´´.

Tornadus - Well, same as above, but not as much as a threat as Thundurus is because it only has one typing.

Tyranitar - Conkeldurr, Deoxys-S, Latios, Togekiss.

Venusaur - Volcarona, Latios. Deoxys-S can hurt it pretty bad with Fire Punch

Victini - Latios, Donphan.

Virizion - Togekiss, Volcarona, Latios.

Volcarona - My own Volcarona kills it with HP Rock, Donphan, Latios.

Weavile - Conkeldurr, Deoxys-S, Volcarona, Togekiss, Donphan hits it with Stone Edge, and even Latios can kill it.

Zoroark - Conkelderp, Deoxys-S, Volcarona, Togekiss.

Defensive threat list coming later.

 

[Zephyr]

Hey man, pretty good team you got going. I don't really have any changes, but I do have a solid suggestion worth looking at. Ice Punch > Fire Punch. It's hits a lot of the same things for super effective damage, but now gives you another really reliable way to do a lot of damage to a majority of things you have highlighted yellow in your list. The only thing you're really losing coverage on is Forretress and Scizor. You have a spinner anyway and Forretress can be damaged a lot by most of your other pokemon, and lets face it, Fire Punch is a standard lead Deoxys move now, and most competant players Scizor won't be getting touched by it, ontop of that, if you do manage to try and fire punch it later in the game, if you've taken prior damage, Deoxys is basically gonna get outsped and die to a CB bullet Punch / SD bullet punch anyway.
It's up to you, but its definitely a really great alternative I think you should play with.

 

[mazzulmaz]

Thanks, I will try it out and see how it works ;D.

 

[dragonuser]

personally i now run a chesto rest volcarona on my teams, this volcarona is amazing on the fact that you can use so many more pokemon as set up fodder, (before his sweep u just take out troubling pokes like heatran). With chesto rest status's dont really matter anymore because u r going to get a pseudo full restore anyway.
and for evs u can use max hp and speed

 

[mazzulmaz]

personally i now run a chesto rest volcarona on my teams, this volcarona is amazing on the fact that you can use so many more pokemon as set up fodder, (before his sweep u just take out troubling pokes like heatran). With chesto rest status's dont really matter anymore because u r going to get a pseudo full restore anyway.
and for evs u can use max hp and speed

No thanks, I already have a mon that can absorb status (Conkelderp) and I need an aggresive set up sweeper in my team since Volcarona is the only one.

 

[Angel Eyes]

Looks pretty good. The only potential flaw I see is your lack of a steel type, meaning you have nothing that resists dragon type attacks. I suppose Latios outspeeds most dragons and Donphan can handle Outrage and such but it's just food for thought, and I would give serious consideration to something along the lines of Heatran or Magnezone. Good Luck!

 

[mazzulmaz]

Looks pretty good. The only potential flaw I see is your lack of a steel type, meaning you have nothing that resists dragon type attacks. I suppose Latios outspeeds most dragons and Donphan can handle Outrage and such but it's just food for thought, and I would give serious consideration to something along the lines of Heatran or Magnezone. Good Luck!

How about Forretress? He resists dragon types, can lay down T-Spikes and can use Rapid Spin so I can replace him with Donphan. I do lose some Priority though D=.

 

[pokefan123456]

How about Forretress? He resists dragon types, can lay down T-Spikes and can use Rapid Spin so I can replace him with Donphan. I do lose some Priority though D=.

If you're looking for a pokemon with priority moves and access to rapid spin, try this guy out.
Hitmontop@Leftovers
Ability:Technician
Nature:Careful
EV Spread: 252 HP / 192 Def / 72 SDef
Bulk Up/Agility
Sucker Punch
Mach Punch
Rapid Spin
Use bulk up for extra power and defense or agility for extra speed. After one agility, hitmontop can outspeed base speed 110 pokemon with neutral nature even if they have 252 EVs invested in speed. I prefer bulk up though because hitmontop has good priority moves and their power is further boosted by the ability.
I know you already have a bulky fighting type, but hitmontop has its own charm.

 

[mazzulmaz]

I chose Forretress because I needed a Dragon resister though, and I dont think Hitmontop resists that. I can replace Donphan for him, so I still has Rapid Spin and a Dragon resist. I lose some priority Ice Shard which is to bad, but in return I can lay down Toxic Spikes.

 

[pokefan123456]

I chose Forretress because I needed a Dragon resister though, and I dont think Hitmontop resists that. I can replace Donphan for him, so I still has Rapid Spin and a Dragon resist. I lose some priority Ice Shard which is to bad, but in return I can lay down Toxic Spikes.

Forretress is an excellent spinner, probably the best one around and sets up spikes pretty effectively too. Watch out for fire moves though(4x weakness), especially from the special side and almost all dragons carry them for coverage. But other than that, its an excellent physical wall and has many resistances so i guess it's a good choice.

 

[Shurtugal]

Ok, this team has potential, but it needs a few tweaks.

Let me point out the standard Excadrill takes Volcarona/Togekiss with rock slide Deoxy-s/latios with X-Scissor leaving you with Donphan and Conkeldurr to take it. Gliscor commonly seen on sandstorm teams will wall the fuck outta Conkeldurr and most likey take it out. And Gastrodon/Quagsire/Ferrothorn will take out Donphan. So this is part of what I meant by "needs some tweaks".




-Deoxys-
T-Tar will easily crunch/pursuit on this thing and bring it down to like 1 hp. Most T-Tar these days run Coble Berry (halves fighting attacks) so your Deozys-S will die. There are plenty of other pokemon that can set up S-Rocks as a lead. Leads should usually always be bulky, there are some exceptions (as Deoxy-S should, but it doesn't fit with this team)

Lead: Bronzong @ Leftovers
N: (+def/-spe)
E: 252 Hp/204 Def/52 Atk
IV: 0Spe

~ Gyro Ball
~ Stealth Rock
~ Earthquake
~ Toxic

This thing is a bit more bulky, it sets up rocks, and it can counter common pokemon on sand teams (Excadrill can't one shot it, and Gyro Ball break balloon, and Earthquake for the finish, Earthquake can also take T_Tar or Gyro Ball). Gyro Ball is a pure STAB attack with a major boost form shitty speed. Toxic is there as your method of wearing down sweepers. Sweepers tend to set up S-D or D-D and kill of everyone, but toxic forces a switch so this thing kinda patches this up. It does a better job than deoxys-s so you should consider it.


-Conkeldurr-

Pretty standard, but this thing isn't a tank. It can't be OHKO'ed easily, but still not a tank. It should be called a sweeper, because this thing is standard set and performs this well. There really isn't any improvments on this thing expept adding flame orb or toxic orb for Guts combo. Thats up to you but either way this thing can sweep very well. It needs better support pokemon, but I'll get to that.



-Latios-

Its a good sp.sweeper, but having choice specs can be troublesome. This thing has a nice move pool, but using Draco Meteor forces you to switch next round. Note that if you want to keep Specs that you should use Dragon Pulse instead. You can simply replace specs for life orb, so you can switch up attacks in general. If you choose to add life orb, then recover can be used over ice beam b/c ice beam is not really needed on him as draco metoer hits dragons and t-bolt flying and surf takes grounds. Making Ice Beam useless in general on him. So thats something to think about.



-Togekiss-

I disagree with togekiss. How about we add a special tank here instead?

Blissey @ Leftovers
N: Calm
E: 252 Hp/204 Sp.Def/52 Def
Softboiled/Toxic (or Heal Bell)
Seismic Toss/Wish

Blissey can abosrb attacks coming from Rain teams and Sun teams and take them like a pro. It can take conkeldurr Psychic weakness very well. Latios hates ice and dragons attacks (usually special) so thats were blissey comes in.
I picked it over chansey for leftovers boost and b/c special defense realy not much of a difference. This thing can toxic stall all day, however, for more support Heal Bell is always an opiton. Seismic Toss is to speed up toxics stall rate, and to dent things that would otherwise wall boltbeams. Seismic Toss isn't common on Blissey, making it all the better to use. Wish is the best support b/cwish passing is exactly what Conkeldurr needs, especially if you decide to run toxic/flame orb.


-Volcarona-
Volcarona;s restchesto set works best on volcarona as it gets rid of status and allows a proper set up.


Donphan is fine! :)

GOod luck with this team

 

[mazzulmaz]

I will definetly try out Bronzong and see how he works, thanks =).

I disagree on replacing Togekiss. It is the only reliable revenge killer I´ve got and this does pretty darn wel at that job. I also will keep Draco Meteor on Latios since he is designed to break through walls/stall teams, not to sweep. Someone already mentioned the ChestoRest set, so I will try that one out =).

 

[CaseyL]

If you're going to remove Surf for HP Fire, why not just go with Flamethrower?

 

[mazzulmaz]

Oh yeah fuck it knows flamethrower XD.

 

[Jirachee]

Hey there,

Excellent team you've got there. However, without a Steel type, you are weak to the powerful STAB Dragon moves from the likes of Choice Specs Latios, Choice Band Dragonite but more importantly Choice Band Haxorus. The latter one absolutely 2HKOes your entire team with Outrage, while you'll have to rely on it being locked in Outrage to successfully revenge kill it with Latios. Haxorus is quickly gaining more popularity in the metagame, so this isn't an ideal situation. To fix that problem, I'd swap Donphan for Forretress. Forry is ably to spin and set up Stealth Rock like Donphan does, with a nice bonus in Spikes, while giving you a nice resistance to Dragon typed moves. Here is the set I'd use :

Forretress

Forretress @ Leftovers
Bold
Sturdy
EVs : 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
-Volt Switch
-Rapid Spin
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes

Good luck!

 

[mazzulmaz]

I was thinking of Forry myself, although I will change some moves. Deoxys cal already lay down SR and Spikes, so I will replace those moves with T-Spikes and Gyro Ball. I will definetly try him out, thanks! ^^.

 

[Ashura Areson]

Have you concidered running an ExtremeSpeed Togekiss? That could give extra priority that could help you out in many situations.

 

[Shurtugal]

Foretress is better than Donphan, and Bronzong looks like a better lead than Deoxys. Togekiss can do it job well, but there a few moves u need to change

Togekiss @ (any item)
N: Modest/Timid
E: 252 SpA/252 Spd/4 Hp

Air Slash/Aura Sphere
Thunder Wave/Extreeme Speed

T-Wave helps support it b.c its speed isnt the best. T-Wave does wounders as Air Slash threatens your opponent. ES is for a quick OHKO shot on weakened down pokes. AuraSphere there for coverage..


Seems like a good team, i wish it luck :P

Freak

 

[mazzulmaz]

Never thought of that. Also means I don´t need a Scarf anymore =D, and STAB Extremespeed is nice, but well..... it´s physical. I will playtest and see how it works out.

 

[mazzulmaz]

Alright, I played a few games with bronzong now, and my rank made a straight dive downwards. It was to slow, taken out to early, disallowing me to get entry hazards up, and doing far form enough damage to pose a threat other than entry hazards and Toxic. So yeah, I´ll stick with Deoxys. Will test out Forretress tomorrow.

 

[HoiPolloi]

Hi,

This team really has some problems against all kind of weather. To solve this, you would have change some pokes into weather counters, or just play in the Clear Skies tier, because this is a very good team outside of weather.

To fix the problem with other Latios, you said, that you try to tie with your own Latios.To do change its nature to Timid, so you willl outspeed other Latios by 1 point, if they run HP Fire, what they often do.

Good luck!

 

[Shurtugal]

Hmm, well I guess it really just depends on predictions and plays. Hmmmm, I still think Deoxy-S on this team is horrible. If not Bronzong, how about Mew?

Mew @ Leftovers
N: Adamant/Jolly
EV: 252 A/252 Spe

~ Stealth Rock
~ Thunder Punch
~ Earthquake
~ Superpower

Well, it it sort of like Deoxys-S, except, its not as frail. I know being physical is weird, but its 100 Base Stat all-around and hit Politoed/T-Tar/Ninetails harder physical than special. All these attacks should be able to help you. The speed should garuantee rocks as its harldy ever outspeed.

 

[mazzulmaz]

Will definetly try this one out =D.
It seems pretty good to me, it trades in speed for a slightly higher attack stat and a nice amount of extra bulk.

 

[mazzulmaz]

Well looks like Mew doesn´t seems to work either. It actually gets outspeeded a lot. Forretress on the other hand works great.