Honchbro's Final Stand - Peaked #10!

The Goddamn Batman

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Introduction:​
Hey Smogon, thanks for taking the time to read my first RMT! My name is The Goddamn Batman, and while I know my post count isn’t very high, and my join date is recent, I’ve been lurking Smogon since June of 2009, so I know my way around. Anyway, I have a few things I’d like to say about my experience with RU, my team, and about it’s playstyle. After playing early BW OU for a few months, I came to despise the weather-oriented meta, and started dabbling in the lower tiers, where I built a successful Sand-Stall team. However, I’m a primarily offensive player, and I wanted to check out the new RU tier. I would say that I’ve been playing in RU for quite some time now, and I have a very good feel for the tier. I’m not the greatest player, but a version of this team has peaked at #23 on the ladder. I would really appreciate any and all suggestions that you have, and in return, if anyone has a team they would like me to rate, I would be completely glad to do so. On to the team!
EDIT: THIS TEAM IS NOW RETIRED

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Moltres @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Air Slash
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Roost​

Moltres is usually my lead, and he does a fantastic job of tearing holes in the opposing team. However, I’ve been noticing that Moltres hasn’t been performing like he used to in the earlier stages of RU, as his surprise factor is all but gone. Opponents would frequently try to set up Omastar on Moltres, only to be met with a swift HP Grass. If no one else has any suggestions for the lead spot, I’m still fairly happy with his performance, as he can 2HKO basically the entire tier, save Munchlax and Slowking. I’ve been considering a Choice Scarf as the item, as Moltres’ speed can be underwhelming at times.
Is Moltres replaceable? Yes, I’ve tried out SubCM Entei instead of Moltres as my bulky Fire-type, but was not impressed. Suggestions are welcome.

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Lanturn (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Def / 204 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Heal Bell
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As Gligar usurped Qwilfish’s main job, my second favorite Water type Pokemon no longer has a place on this team. I realized that I needed some cushion against strong special attackers, and I didn’t hesitate to insert my favorite Water type Pokemon into the team! Lanturn’s incredible defensive typing and ability make it an incredible pivot, and now I have a reliable switch-in to Moltres and Rotom, two huge threats to this team. I realize that I lost Spikes and Toxic Spikes support for Honchkrow, but with Lanturn in the team, I have a great cleric that helps out my team even more. EVs are fairly straightforward, 52 HP EVs to make random Seismic Tosses/Night Shades a 5HKO, while also providing a Lefties number, and the rest of the EVs are dumped in defenses.
Is Lanturn replaceable? I think that a bulky Water type is necessary on any RU team, and I think that Lanturn is the best of the best. Maybe I would consider Slowking, but its lack of offensive presence is unappealing.


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Rotom-C @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Trick​

If anyone has played me on PO, this slot should come as a surprise to you. This used to be Lilligant’s slot, but I find that she just doesn’t get enough opportunities to get a Quiver Dance in. Anyway, I started testing Rotom-C in its place last night, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Rotom is my first response to a misplay, or an opposing sweep I let start. Rotom also provides me with momentum, and if I see my opponent leading with Moltres in Team Preview, I lead with my Rotom-C. Seriously, the momentum this guy provides cant be stressed enough. Also, Rotom-C has great synergy with Qwilfish. It can take Ground and Electric attacks all day, while Qwilfish soaks up Fire and Ice assaults. I’m using the standard Choice Scarf sweeper set, but if a bulkier set with WoW would be more beneficial to my team, I’d like to know.
Is Rotom-C replaceable? I think that Rotom-C’s ability to shift momentum in my favor is unparalleled, but if there is any other way I can gain momentum while still having such a good defensive typing, I would be willing to change this slot.

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Honchkrow (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Sucker Punch
- Brave Bird
- Substitute
- Roost​

Honchkrow is, plain and simple, the best Pokemon in RU right now, and until it gets banned, I will use it on every one of my RU teams. Its revenge killing ability is unmatched, and MoxieKrow is the cause of 99% of RU rage quits. Now that every team has a Klinklang or an Aggron, it is slightly less useful, but if I’m able to remove those threats in the midgame, Honchkrow’s sweep is almost uncontested. Now I know its only a matter of time before Honchkrow moves up to BL2, so if anyone has ideas on what would be a good fit for this spot after the ban, please help me. I’ve used MoxieDile before and have been happy with its performance, so please let me know what you think.
Is Honchkrow replaceable? Not for now, but in the future I won’t be able to abuse it anymore, so I’d like to hear a few opinions on what the best replacement for this spot is.

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Klinklang @ Leftovers
Trait: Plus
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Shift Gear
- Gear Grind
- Return
- Substitute
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Ah, Klinklang, how I loathe thee. Klinklang really only has one purpose on this team, and that is to counter MoxieKrow. I honestly hate using Klinklang, and I find it extremely overrated. Shift Gear is meh, and Gear Grind misses at the worst moments. It doesn’t synergize well with this team, and exaggerates my Fire weakness. For now, I’ve been considering Magneton to trap other Steels, but I need advice on anything else that can make my team work (Spinner, Spinblocker, etc.).
Is Klinklang replaceable? PLEASE.
Edit: With Substitute now on Klinklang, I find that its sweep is easier to pull off. I don't completely hate him anymore, thank you MoltenKyurem.

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Gligar (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Roost​

After realizing that Claydol just cant take enough hits, and its ability to spin isn’t that important when all of my Pokemon are immune to Toxic Spikes, I started to look for a replacement to this slot. I tested Uxie, and while she could always paralyze a Pokemon or two, she just didn’t come with enough resistances. But now, thanks to Axmaster68, I’ve found the perfect fit for my team: Gligar. Gligar provides me with an Electric immunity, so I can stop Volt Switching madness, and I’m able to find plenty of opportunities to set up Stealth Rock. I went for Toxic over Taunt because Gligar can really cripple many physical attacking threats, like Medicham, with a quick case of Poison to limit their switch-ins. However, even though Gligar is so amazing, I find that I don’t switch in Qwilfish as much, leading to me not setting up hazards as frequently. However, I feel like I really don’t need that many hazards on this team, as Stealth Rock really covers all the main threats in RU. Let me know what you guys think!
Is Gligar replaceable? I’ve spent most of my time with this team trying to fill this slot, and now that I have a good fit for my team, I would say that Gligar is not replaceable.

PAST MEMBERS:​
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Claydol @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock​

And now we come to Claydol, the dead weight of my team. There is a reason why I introduced this set last, and its because it is one of the worst sets I’ve ever used in my history in competitive battling. If this was the first Pokemon you saw, you would accuse me of being a total noob. In all seriousness, Claydol isn’t a bad Pokemon, I just don’t know if it is still valuable on this team. I really don’t want the screens, but then again, I really don’t like Claydol’s standard utility set either. Anyway, what I really need from this spot is a durable Pokemon with an Electric type immunity that can set up Stealth Rock. Maybe this is Claydol, maybe it isn’t, but this is why I’m having my team rated, to find out what you think. All suggestions are welcome.
Is Claydol replaceable? Claydol is in need of the most rates, please, if you don’t feel like doing a full rate, just comment a set you think I should run.

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Qwilfish (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Waterfall
- Taunt​

Qwilfish is my utility counter for a variety of threats, and has possibly the best defensive typing in the RU tier. I use Qwilfish to counter physical Entei, Sharpedo, Primeape, Hitmonchan, Krookodile, Aggron, and pretty much any physical attacker (Except Electivire lol). Also, Qwilfish has great synergy with Rotom-C. With Intimidate, it helps cripple a threat so that another one of my team members can revenge later. Qwilfish gets numerous opportunities to set up hazards, which is why I have both variants of Spikes on him. The most important move on this whole set though is Taunt, because Qwilfish is able to stop status and set up from any Pokemon below 219 speed. This includes max speed Aggron and standard Poliwrath, two otherwise huge threats to my team. I try and keep Qwilfish alive as long as possible, but if it has set up hazards, ill keep him as an Intimidate sacrifice for late game.
Is Qwilfish replaceable? I would say that out of all of my team members, Qwilfish is the most important. I’m open to suggestions, but I don’t think there is any other Pokemon in RU that can do all that Qwilfish does in one team slot.

Conclusion:​
With my #10 peak, I have met a personal goal by cracking the top 10. Therefore, I am retiring this team. I would like to thank all of the raters for their help with this team, and I got to talk to a lot of great people involved with the RU metagame. If anyone wants to use this team, please feel free to do so, I hope you have as much fun with it as I did. I’m gonna go back to playing UU for awhile, but I know I’ll be back eventually in the RU tier. Again, thank you everyone!
 
hey there man, ive faced your team before, and it is genuinely good. its an excellent team in general.

have you tried substitute on klinklang? it provides a way to avoid nasty things like burn, and makes klinklang very hard to revenge kill. as replacements go SubPunch aggron can easily set up on Moxiekrow and head smash the switch in.

about claydol, what exactly does claydol do, that uxie cant? dual screens uxie is an excellent set-up aid, and can help your klinklang sweep easily, as well as set up steath rock.

as far as the team goes, subsplit rotom is a huge issue to this team, it hits more than half of your team super effectively. with rotom-c being the only hope against it. easily the two best counters are krookodile and lanturn, roselia is also an excellent check. if you see the need, you can replace qwilfish with roselia, and replace rotom-c with either krookodile, or some other pokemon i cant think of.

good luck with your team, its really pretty good :)

edit: and btw, at this point honch isnt going to get banned, seriously we discovered two hard counters to it, and a huge amount of checks
 
Thanks Molk, I really appreciate the rate. I'm definitely going to test Uxie, but I'm worried that Roselia won't give me any offensive presence to work with. I'll definitely try it out though. And hopefully we keep Honch, I love it ahaha I'll go rate your team right now, thanks a bunch.
 
The Goddamn Batman said:
Thanks Molk, I really appreciate the rate. I'm definitely going to test Uxie, but I'm worried that Roselia won't give me any offensive presence to work with. I'll definitely try it out though. And hopefully we keep Honch, I love it ahaha I'll go rate your team right now, thanks a bunch.
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roselia's special attack is actually a nice base 100, higher than qwilfish's if you DO decide to use roselia wish support could be interesting
 
Well I kinda need Qwilfish as my physically bulky check, but ill test Roselia. Wish support is starting to change too much of the team, since i really wouldn't find the time to use wish on an offensive team. But I see that there are 78 views on this tread already, come on people drop a rate!

Edit: Substitute on Klinklang is perfect. So much better than HP Fire. I will edit the main post in the morning. Also, I've been using Molk's custom Uxie set, it works great. I just wish i had an Electric immunity, but Electric attacks can be played around. Any other posters out there?
 
Hey there. I think I have faced your team a couple times and it is very good. For moltres, I might consider putting typhlosion instead. It definitely doesn't have as much power, but it does have 100 base speed, meaning it out speeds rotom-n, which can damage a huge chunk of your team. i feel like a standard life orb set would work, or a power herb solarbeam variant would also do really well at killing everything that eruption couldn't.
 
sheniqua said:
Hey there. I think I have faced your team a couple times and it is very good. For moltres, I might consider putting typhlosion instead. It definitely doesn't have as much power, but it does have 100 base speed, meaning it out speeds rotom-n, which can damage a huge chunk of your team. i feel like a standard life orb set would work, or a power herb solarbeam variant would also do really well at killing everything that eruption couldn't.
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Hey man thanks! I've considered Typhlosion for this spot, but I've just never implemented it. I'll definitely test it out. Thanks for the help. Keep the rates coming!
 
The Goddamn Batman said:
Anyway, what I really need from this spot is a durable Pokemon with an Electric type immunity that can set up Stealth Rock.
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I'm not sure how viable it is in RU, but Camerupt is a great Pokemon I've been using in NU lately. His Fire/Ground typing isn't terrible once you get over that Water weakness, and he can be fairly bulky. More importantly, he can set Rocks and has an Electric immunity. Try him out if you want.

I prefer Eviolite Magneton over Klinklang, but I think both are good Pokemon. Try Mag out and see what you think.
 
ChaoticaMortis said:
I'm not sure how viable it is in RU, but Camerupt is a great Pokemon I've been using in NU lately. His Fire/Ground typing isn't terrible once you get over that Water weakness, and he can be fairly bulky. More importantly, he can set Rocks and has an Electric immunity. Try him out if you want.

I prefer Eviolite Magneton over Klinklang, but I think both are good Pokemon. Try Mag out and see what you think.
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So far I've tried out Eviolite Magneton, and I think its pretty good. Idk if its worth losing Klinklang though, as now I really dont have any physical attackers other than Honchkrow. Also, I've been having MAJOR SubSplit Rotom problems, how could I fix this?
 
Hmm... when it comes to replacing Honchkrow, if you have to, I'd try Swellow, which should be rising up from NU, or Absol, which may do the same(stronger Sucker Punch!!). Also, I would exchange Claydol for possibly Gligar, which I use on my RU team, or maybe Sandlash. Personally I'd use Gligar, for a good physical wall too.
 
Axmaster68 said:
Hmm... when it comes to replacing Honchkrow, if you have to, I'd try Swellow, which should be rising up from NU, or Absol, which may do the same(stronger Sucker Punch!!). Also, I would exchange Claydol for possibly Gligar, which I use on my RU team, or maybe Sandlash. Personally I'd use Gligar, for a good physical wall too.
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Alright then, Gligar sounds cool. I'll be testing that tonight. Thanks for the rate dude.

Edit: Gligar is amazing. With Toxic/SR/Roost/EQ, I can stall physical threats that used to really hurt this team, like SubCM Uxie. Definitely a new addition to the team, I'll change the main post in the morning. Thanks for the rate Axmaster68!
 
Bump. With Gligar now covering physical threats, does anyone think I should replace Qwilfish? I was wondering if specially defensive variants of Lanturn or Drapion would be good fits for this team.
 
Drapion seems like it would fit well. it is a lot bulkier than qwilfish on the special side, and it has a faster taunt. However, it only gets toxic spikes, not spikes. I'm not sure if that is worth the switch. Spikes seem to be very important for the rest of your team.
 
sheniqua said:
Drapion seems like it would fit well. it is a lot bulkier than qwilfish on the special side, and it has a faster taunt. However, it only gets toxic spikes, not spikes. I'm not sure if that is worth the switch. Spikes seem to be very important for the rest of your team.
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Well, I'd like to try Drapion eventually, but I started testing Lanturn, and I haven't lost a game since. Lanturn helps patch up my slight Moltres weakness, while also majorly helping with SubSplit Rotom.

Also, just a little picture for everyone :)
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SR really isnt a big deal, as I have Moltres in the lead spot to basically do as much damage as possible, so I'm not switching him in and out. Also, when i switch Honchkrow in, I usually go Sub -> Roost -> Sweep, so it isnt even that big of a deal. So really, Stealth Rock isnt a big factor in my games.
 
Your team is flawed in that you have 2 SR weak Pokemon (one quadruple weak I might add) and absolutely no spinner. I'm not sure how to remedy this, because you're pretty comfortable with your team and shoving a random spinner is pretty hackneyed, but i'm going to try anyway!

To start things off though, I'd just replace Klingklang with anything! Anything thats not Klingklang, I cannot stress enough how bad this Pokemon is. Its just so bad, and its definitely not doing any favors for your team. I'd replace Klingklang with Steelix.
Steelix is an under-appreciated Pokemon. It can check MoxieKrow, Aggron and basically any non fighting physical attacker. Then, I'd suggest replacing Gligar with a spinner of your choice. It could be Evolite Watorturtle, Cryogenal, the hitmons... just anything that can spin.

Hope I helped!
 
PK Gaming said:
Your team is flawed in that you have 2 SR weak Pokemon (one quadruple weak I might add) and absolutely no spinner. I'm not sure how to remedy this, because you're pretty comfortable with your team and shoving a random spinner is pretty hackneyed, but i'm going to try anyway!

To start things off though, I'd just replace Klingklang with anything! Anything thats not Klingklang, I cannot stress enough how bad this Pokemon is. Its just so bad, and its definitely not doing any favors for your team. I'd replace Klingklang with Steelix.
Steelix is an under-appreciated Pokemon. It can check MoxieKrow, Aggron and basically any non fighting physical attacker. Then, I'd suggest replacing Gligar with a spinner of your choice. It could be Evolite Watorturtle, Cryogenal, the hitmons... just anything that can spin.

Hope I helped!
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Hey PK, thanks for dropping a rate, I really appreciate it. As I dont plan on using this team too much in the future, I'm not going to go ahead and test a spinner, because frankly, I really don't see Rapid Spin as a problem in my battles. My initial gameplan is to just wreck as much shit with Moltres as i can until I'm taken out. If i was running Moltres as a revenge killer with a Choice Scarf, then i never would have built this team without a spinner. But I really dont run into problems with SR. Also, 2/3 of my team is not grounded, so Spikes/T-Spikes are not a problem. Although many people seem to think so, Rapid Spin support is not a necessity for every team.

Anyway, I'm completely open to your Steelix suggestion, and I think I'm going to test it out when the tiers shift. That would free up an extra team slot, but I'm gonna see how the metagame turns out before i put something in that space. Again, thanks so much for the rate, I'll be sure to test Steelix.
 
This is a cool team and I'll have to give it a try, I've been wanting to use MoxieKrow for a while. also here is an animated Lanturn sprite, it looks out of place without animation.
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Yo, Batman! Let me return the RMT Favour :)

Your team is very good, first off all, but there are a few things I'd like to mention. Firstly, I reccomend Volt Switch on Laturn. I used iit in my early days in RU and the momentum it gives is excellent and I think, with Rotom-C as well, it would complement your team very nicely indeed.

Secondly, it's good too see someone who thinks Klingklang is overrated. It gets walled by too much stuff. As you'll know, in my team, it was swiftly replaced by scarf Primeae, which I would definetly reccomend.

Finally, I'm oh so glad Honckrow is getting banned ;)
 
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