I made this team off of a whim, and it’s been my most successful one so far. The theory behind it was that I wanted to utilize Haxorus’ amazing Attack stat with as much support as possible. From there, the team branched out. Here’s my thought process…
Haxorus (Strength)
Magnezone (Traps Steels)
Gyrados (Good Synergy with Magnezone)
Salamence (I read something about a team of dragons and figured to try him out)
Blissey (I need some sort of defense on this team...)
Metagross (I need Stealth Rocks and a lead)
Those were my initial thoughts, and some careful tweaking created the following team. My goal of the team is to use my three “dragons” to sweep once they have gained enough support.
THE LEAD
Metagross @ Air Balloon
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Hammer Arm
- Bullet Punch
Metagross’ main goal is to set up Stealth Rock, which he does quite well. His bulk almost always ensures that SR lands. If he has HP to spare, his Meteor Mash hits hard and is decently reliable. Bullet Punch is also an option for late game revenge killing, while Hammer Arm is for Tyranitar and Ferrothorn.
THE DRAGONS
Haxorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Dual Chop
Beast. Pure power. Haxorus uses his massive attacks to decimate teams. His typical KO rate is about three Pokemon a match. Three- the number of turns Outrage usually lasts. Haxorus’ job is to come in on already weakened teams and basically crush them with Outrage. Choice Scarf allows him to strike first against swift opponents, and his natural strength coupled with this increased speed often nets him the win. He performs less with certain roadblocks, but I’ll explain solutions later.
Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 64 Atk / 192 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
Haxorus’ best friend/partner. He’s a special attacker because I noticed that my team is heavy on the physical side. His special attacks are ideal. Fire Blast for Ferrothorn and Scizor who expect physical variants, while Draco Meteor decimates everything in between. Once they are weakened, I fall back on Outrage for a quick burst and hope that it KO’s them. It’s usually a trend when I use Salamence, Fire Blast->Draco Meteor->Outrage. Earthquake is for Heatran, one of my team’s biggest problems.
Gyarados (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Lance considers him a dragon, so I do to. Moxie is over Intimidate because after my Dragon Dance boost, Moxie can allow Gyarados to reach 900+ Attack. Powerful and potent. Waterfall allows a change of taste in the team, and Stone Edge is the sole Rock move on the team. Earthquake may seem redundant, but it’s crucial because Electric Pokemon like to switch into Gyarados. I originally picked him because of his synergy with the next Pokemon…
SUPPORT
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
A Classic Dragon’s Best Friend. He traps Steel types and rips them to shreds. HP Fire is my solution to Scizor and Ferrothorn, while Thunderbolt makes Skarmory cry. Substitute allow me to scout when I’m not using him against Steel types; opponents seem to like to use U-Turn and bring in Starmie, so my Substitute allows me to survive long enough to hit it with Thunderbolt. Flash Cannon… has some uses. It’s nice for the occasional surprise attack on Tyranitar.
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Hail
- Softboiled
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
Okay, that’s your standard Blissey. Softboiled for HP and Toxic for stall. Okay, Flamethrower is a little odd, but it takes out Steel types (and the occasional Terrakion yesterday :P). But wait… Hail? Hail was originally Aromatherapy, and while I miss being able to cure Gyarados of Paralysis (He seems to be a Thunder Wave magnet), Hail has saved me. Why? So many teams are reliant on weather, and by canceling their weather with Hail (how many Hail teams are there?) I foil their strategy. Venusaur charges Solarbeam, Hail. Heatran goes to abuse a boosted Fire Blast in the sun, Hail. It actually allows Blissey to outlast Heatran, who is immune to Flamethrower and Toxic. Blissey is my solution for Starmie and Gengar and other Special Attackers.
Battles usually flow as such: Metagross sets up SR, then I shuffle between Gyrados and Magnezone until the opponents are weakened (or get lucky with Gyrados sweeping). Then I pull in Haxorus once the Steel types are out and he usually takes out a good 2 or 3 Pokemon before I retreat and send out Blissey or Metagross (if he survived). I bring Haxorus back into the battle at the next moment and then continue attacking. If I hit trouble, Salamence steps in and can usually break the opponents down with his more unusual moveset.
Our biggest weakness is weather teams, especially Sandstorm ones. The Sandstorm hinders my sweeps and Gyrados is the only sure way to eliminate Sandstorm sweepers. One T-Tar and Hippowdon are out of the way, Blissey can Hail us to safety, but it may be too late.
Another threat is Heatran- the team has no real way of dealing with him. Gyrados and Haxorus' Earthquakes work, but they're not always reliable.
Any suggestions would be appreciated- including, but not limited to, adding a different Pokemon, moveset changes, item changes, etc.
Thanks in advance!
Haxorus (Strength)
Magnezone (Traps Steels)
Gyrados (Good Synergy with Magnezone)
Salamence (I read something about a team of dragons and figured to try him out)
Blissey (I need some sort of defense on this team...)
Metagross (I need Stealth Rocks and a lead)
Those were my initial thoughts, and some careful tweaking created the following team. My goal of the team is to use my three “dragons” to sweep once they have gained enough support.
THE LEAD
Metagross @ Air Balloon
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Hammer Arm
- Bullet Punch
Metagross’ main goal is to set up Stealth Rock, which he does quite well. His bulk almost always ensures that SR lands. If he has HP to spare, his Meteor Mash hits hard and is decently reliable. Bullet Punch is also an option for late game revenge killing, while Hammer Arm is for Tyranitar and Ferrothorn.
THE DRAGONS
Haxorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Dual Chop
Beast. Pure power. Haxorus uses his massive attacks to decimate teams. His typical KO rate is about three Pokemon a match. Three- the number of turns Outrage usually lasts. Haxorus’ job is to come in on already weakened teams and basically crush them with Outrage. Choice Scarf allows him to strike first against swift opponents, and his natural strength coupled with this increased speed often nets him the win. He performs less with certain roadblocks, but I’ll explain solutions later.
Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 64 Atk / 192 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
Haxorus’ best friend/partner. He’s a special attacker because I noticed that my team is heavy on the physical side. His special attacks are ideal. Fire Blast for Ferrothorn and Scizor who expect physical variants, while Draco Meteor decimates everything in between. Once they are weakened, I fall back on Outrage for a quick burst and hope that it KO’s them. It’s usually a trend when I use Salamence, Fire Blast->Draco Meteor->Outrage. Earthquake is for Heatran, one of my team’s biggest problems.
Gyarados (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Lance considers him a dragon, so I do to. Moxie is over Intimidate because after my Dragon Dance boost, Moxie can allow Gyarados to reach 900+ Attack. Powerful and potent. Waterfall allows a change of taste in the team, and Stone Edge is the sole Rock move on the team. Earthquake may seem redundant, but it’s crucial because Electric Pokemon like to switch into Gyarados. I originally picked him because of his synergy with the next Pokemon…
SUPPORT
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
A Classic Dragon’s Best Friend. He traps Steel types and rips them to shreds. HP Fire is my solution to Scizor and Ferrothorn, while Thunderbolt makes Skarmory cry. Substitute allow me to scout when I’m not using him against Steel types; opponents seem to like to use U-Turn and bring in Starmie, so my Substitute allows me to survive long enough to hit it with Thunderbolt. Flash Cannon… has some uses. It’s nice for the occasional surprise attack on Tyranitar.
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Hail
- Softboiled
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
Okay, that’s your standard Blissey. Softboiled for HP and Toxic for stall. Okay, Flamethrower is a little odd, but it takes out Steel types (and the occasional Terrakion yesterday :P). But wait… Hail? Hail was originally Aromatherapy, and while I miss being able to cure Gyarados of Paralysis (He seems to be a Thunder Wave magnet), Hail has saved me. Why? So many teams are reliant on weather, and by canceling their weather with Hail (how many Hail teams are there?) I foil their strategy. Venusaur charges Solarbeam, Hail. Heatran goes to abuse a boosted Fire Blast in the sun, Hail. It actually allows Blissey to outlast Heatran, who is immune to Flamethrower and Toxic. Blissey is my solution for Starmie and Gengar and other Special Attackers.
Battles usually flow as such: Metagross sets up SR, then I shuffle between Gyrados and Magnezone until the opponents are weakened (or get lucky with Gyrados sweeping). Then I pull in Haxorus once the Steel types are out and he usually takes out a good 2 or 3 Pokemon before I retreat and send out Blissey or Metagross (if he survived). I bring Haxorus back into the battle at the next moment and then continue attacking. If I hit trouble, Salamence steps in and can usually break the opponents down with his more unusual moveset.
Our biggest weakness is weather teams, especially Sandstorm ones. The Sandstorm hinders my sweeps and Gyrados is the only sure way to eliminate Sandstorm sweepers. One T-Tar and Hippowdon are out of the way, Blissey can Hail us to safety, but it may be too late.
Another threat is Heatran- the team has no real way of dealing with him. Gyrados and Haxorus' Earthquakes work, but they're not always reliable.
Any suggestions would be appreciated- including, but not limited to, adding a different Pokemon, moveset changes, item changes, etc.
Thanks in advance!