The Neptune Team

[Zeta5]

Welcome! today I have an interesting team from awhile ago that I felt should be revived for BW2. First though I think it would be a great to get some opinions from the smogon community. Please read the entire thing through!

Backround:

I used this team around Febuary-March 2012 while scarf Rotom-W was very popular. Somehow I dominated with the team landing a secure spot on page 2. Now while I did get to page 1(rank 17 1501 points)later on with a different team, this was by far my most successful one. Eventually the ever changing metagame rendered my team old and was crushed by new ideas and sets. Now with bw2 I think it would be nice to take a look at the team once again and give it upgrades to face off against the new pokemon/moves/abilities etc...





THE TEAM:

BCHydro (Rotom-W) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Ah, the good old scarf Rotom-w set, anyways this was my scarfer who was charged with scouting, crippling walls, and taking out dragons(dragonite mostly). Walled really badly by Jelicent and Ferrothorn(who make a great def core together..). blissey and chansey also can wall Rotom-w but they have to be careful of trick.

BLT4lunch (Terrakion) @ Choice Band
Trait: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Quick Attack
- X-Scissor

Terrakion with a choice band is a powerful threat to many pokemon. unfortunately scarf is now much better in the present time. Klose Kombat and Stone edge for needed STAB. X-scissor to mess with psychics, and...Quick Attack? Yes Quick Attack. I don't use it too much but this attack comes in very handy in certain situations....

DDD-nite (Dragonite) (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed

Standard D-dancer set for D-nite! Everyone probably already knows what this guy does but Ill go ahead to explain stuff anyways. d-dance is the way to go along with the powerful outrage. Lum berry can help relieve confusing or act as a one hit hyper armor(fighting game term) for status. Fire punch for the steels and E-speed for the priority. I usually keep D-nite for late game as he can deal good damage against weakened pokemon.

IcutYOU (Scizor) (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Technician
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bug Bite
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Superpower

Now this along with the next pokemon are the two odd sets out. Before the battle, if you see rotom-w and scizor, everyone assumes volt-turn. That is a key element of using this set on the team. Your opponent could overpredict a u-turn and mess up while you get up a +2, then you can deal heaps of damage with Bullet Punch and Bug bite, Superpower can wreck whatever it can when needed. I run enough speed to I think outspeed a sp def Heatran for an easy KO with superpower. Lum berry is a very odd choice of an item but comes so useful when setting up. I once was pinned against a very powerful rain stall team but escaped defeat by this guy's hand. got up +4 avoided a scald burn and severely dented my opponent's team(2 dead and one at low red health).

molester (Gengar) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]

A "gimmick set" really Gengar is my main source of sp-att. shadow ball for STAB, focus blast for normals, t-tar, etc. but the last 2 moves and items really seem to not work at all. life orb with substitute is a very odd thing to do, but the pay off it comes with in conjunction with HP Fire is pretty damn great. Besides being a powerhouse, Gengar lures in Scizor and teaches him a lesson. Since Scizor can easily OHKO with BP along with priority, he's a great way to take out Gengar. This is much better done with the sub, but if your opponent feels prediction happy or is using volt -turn you can hit Scizor with a big HP fire to the face(assuming he goes for an attack other than BP or you have a sub up).








And now...the moment we've all been waiting for...the glorious, the almighty, the destruction causing beast...NEPTUNE

Neptune (Heatran) (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock

Neptune...the Heatran!?...yeah. Anywho, Heatran here in the captain of the team, keeping them all in line with his awesome capabilities. SR is a nice entry hazard that helps rotom-w and terrakion deal with dragonite easier and hurts flying types, fire types, all that good stuff. Fire Blast nukes anything that doesn't resist it(besides Bliss and chan...). HP-ice deals with Gliscor and dragons since Heatran is a pretty good Dragon Chek(Mamo better though). and Earth Power hits whatever the first 2 can't. Generally Heatran has a hard time in rain but he's made it out ok many times. I was very hesistant to put on Heatran on this team, but after some time my friend convinced me to try him out. before the team comepletely flopped on its head. But, Heatran somehow reversed all the flaws the others hand and single-handedly could keep the team alive.


Review:

This team is pretty frail but has some interesting points that allow it to actually work in battle, note this team was made a LONG time ago. i'ts goal, have Heatran lead off with some rocks, bully my opponent with rotom-w volt switching and terrakion's terrifying strengh. Catch everyday threats off guard with Scizor and Gengar, and finish off my opponent with D-nite's wrath.


I hope you enjoyed this RMT, Zeta5 outta here

 

[bluewooper]

Hey Zeta5, before I start my rate, I'd like to tell you that this is a very nice team. I found it very hard to find anything that really beats this team.

The Problem:
I found that this team lacks an Electric resistance, which makes some teams that pack rain and Thundurus-T, which absolutely punches huge holes in this team. The biggest threat would be scarfed Thundurus-T. Armed with Thunder, Focus Blast, and Hp Ice, and Volt Turn, all of the members on your team are in severe danger of being swept. The slow an powerful Therian forme commonly holds Specs, harming your team in many ways. the Scarf variant would Outspeed everything and could Spam T-Bolt or Thunder with the knowledge that none of your pokemon resist it. A Specs variation should net at least one KO at least, on the switchin to the initial Thunder. Depending on the strength of some of your faster checks, I could foresee 3 pokemon falling under his wrath.

A Solution:

I suggest that you make a replacement of Choice Band Mamoswine over what you have as Choice Band Terrakion.

Mamoswine @ Choice Band
Jolly: 4Hp/252Atk/252Spe
~Earthquake
~Ice Shard
~Superpower
~Stone Edge

Benefits:

There is a reason that Mamoswine is called the "anti-metagame pokemon". He is able to use Ice Shard (a much better priority move than Quick Attack) to halt all Thundurus-T not behind a sub. Additionally, it can kill or severely weaken Bulky DD Dragonite or other similar dragons. This will deal more damage than the other two Priority moves on your team, and assists in preventing them from getting killed attempting to prevent a sweep (this is important because they are two of your more important pokemon late game). Additionally, this Mamoswine carries the most important Earthquake in the metagame, which is immensely useful. The nature is honestly your choice, and your opinion in whether or not you run into enough hail teams to make Snow Cloak useful. Also, as an added bonus, there is almost negligible increase in attack over Terrakion (129 vs 130). Mamoswine also offers a much higher HP than Terrakion, allowing him to take more physical attacks than Terrakion (whose SpDef is much higher)

Downsides:

There are, needless to say, some downsides to using mamoswine. Be aware that there is a significant speed drop, from 108 to 80. This is not quite as earth shattering as this may appear, as many of those main threats in that speed tier are dragons, which mamoswine actually handles better than. He is stall weak to two of the more oppressive moves in the game for these sort of creatures: Bullet Punch and Mach Punch. Be aware: Toxicroak now outspends you, so you cannot use Mamoswine to attack him and KO him if you're facing him in rain.

I hope you consider this change, Zeta5. Good luck with your team, and I congratulate you with your run on the leader board.

 

[Zeta5]

Hey Zeta5, before I start my rate, I'd like to tell you that this is a very nice team. I found it very hard to find anything that really beats this team.

The Problem:
I found that this team lacks an Electric resistance, which makes some teams that pack rain and Thundurus-T, which absolutely punches huge holes in this team. The biggest threat would be scarfed Thundurus-T. Armed with Thunder, Focus Blast, and Hp Ice, and Volt Turn, all of the members on your team are in severe danger of being swept. The slow an powerful Therian forme commonly holds Specs, harming your team in many ways. the Scarf variant would Outspeed everything and could Spam T-Bolt or Thunder with the knowledge that none of your pokemon resist it. A Specs variation should net at least one KO at least, on the switchin to the initial Thunder. Depending on the strength of some of your faster checks, I could foresee 3 pokemon falling under his wrath.

A Solution:

I suggest that you make a replacement of Choice Band Mamoswine over what you have as Choice Band Terrakion.

Mamoswine @ Choice Band
Jolly: 4Hp/252Atk/252Spe
~Earthquake
~Ice Shard
~Superpower
~Stone Edge

Benefits:

There is a reason that Mamoswine is called the "anti-metagame pokemon". He is able to use Ice Shard (a much better priority move than Quick Attack) to halt all Thundurus-T not behind a sub. Additionally, it can kill or severely weaken Bulky DD Dragonite or other similar dragons. This will deal more damage than the other two Priority moves on your team, and assists in preventing them from getting killed attempting to prevent a sweep (this is important because they are two of your more important pokemon late game). Additionally, this Mamoswine carries the most important Earthquake in the metagame, which is immensely useful. The nature is honestly your choice, and your opinion in whether or not you run into enough hail teams to make Snow Cloak useful. Also, as an added bonus, there is almost negligible increase in attack over Terrakion (129 vs 130). Mamoswine also offers a much higher HP than Terrakion, allowing him to take more physical attacks than Terrakion (whose SpDef is much higher)

Downsides:

There are, needless to say, some downsides to using mamoswine. Be aware that there is a significant speed drop, from 108 to 80. This is not quite as earth shattering as this may appear, as many of those main threats in that speed tier are dragons, which mamoswine actually handles better than. He is stall weak to two of the more oppressive moves in the game for these sort of creatures: Bullet Punch and Mach Punch. Be aware: Toxicroak now outspends you, so you cannot use Mamoswine to attack him and KO him if you're facing him in rain.

I hope you consider this change, Zeta5. Good luck with your team, and I congratulate you with your run on the leader board.

Thanks for the advice Wooper, you actually nailed a problem I had, Mamo sounds like a great idea, ill try it out thanks

 

[Browners]

Hey man,
You seem very weak to Stall teams with Jellicent and a decent check to Gengar. None of your pokes can really switch into Jellicent safely and 3 of your pokemon are totally shut down by scald/will-o burns. Not to mention most teams with Jellicent pack something like a Skarm/Ferro/Forry etc. to set up hazards, which Dragonite, Scizor and Terrakion really dislike. It's difficult to fit one poke that will solve everything but the closest thing to it would probably be a Breloom over Scizor

Breloom can set up all over Jellicent with Poison Heal as it is not afraid of Scald burns as well as being able to take on most stall teams as it can get a quick spore off on Forretress/Skarmory/Ferrothorn and start setting up (If skarm is low, otherwise you can just switch to Heatran or Rotom-W and get momentum going). Your team can take random Draco Meteors pretty well with Heatran and Rotom-W does a decent job of checking Terrakion so it seems like the easiest to replace. You still have priority E-Speed with D-nite to revenge like a weakened Torndadus-T or Mamoswine so you don't REALLY miss Scizor's Bullet punch. Here's the set:


Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 236 HP / 212 SDef / 60 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Seed Bomb
- Drain Punch
- Spore

 

[Nova]

Hi Zeta5

Solid team you have here and congratulations on your ladder score. Now looking at your team, I can see Swords Dance Lucario as a major threat. Nowadays, physical Lucarios usually carry Bullet Punch to handle Terrakion and Gengar, so after a boost he can really put some hurt onto your team. Dragonite is unable to reliably handle Lucario as you have no rapid spinner so his Multiscale will be broken if Stealth Rock are up. For this threat, I suggest replacing Rotom-W with a Choice Scarf Jirachi with a moveset of Iron Head / Ice Punch / Fire Punch / U-turn. Jirachi does not fear Extremespeed or Bullet Punch from Lucario and can remove him with Fire Punch. He also helps with your Thundurus-T weakness as he can outspeed Specs and NP versions and take them out with Ice Punch and also has enough natural bulk to take a Thunder from Scarfed Thundurus-T. With U-turn, Jirachi maintains the switch advantage that you currently have with Rotom-W, but you can also try Trick in order to cripple walls. Finally, Jirachi can use Iron Head hax to flinch its way through opposing teams when needed.

Now for some smaller changes. I like your creative use of Hidden Power Fire on Gengar but this causes him to lose a critical Speed IV and in turn leaves him outsped by opposing Gengar and Lati@s not using HP Fire. If you want to use Gengar as a lure for Scizor, I recommend trying Will-o-Wisp in place of HP Fire. Will-o-Wisp allows Gengar to beat Scizor if you Sub or WoW on the switch and also gives you a way of crippling other physical attackers.

Hope I hlped and good luck with your team!


Set:

Hide

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
-Iron Head
-Fire Punch
-Ice Punch
-U-turn

tl;dr

Hide

Choice Scarf Rotom-W ----> Choice Scarf Jirachi
Hidden Power Fire on Gengar ----> Will-o-Wisp

 

[Zeta5]

I appreciate all the help I got from you guys, thanks! an electric resist seems good as it did plague me alot back in the day. Starmie as a spinner seems like a great idea. I don't know about latios, scarf rachi seems good and I was aware of the hp fire IV drop but man, I never thought of willo xD. Thanks again, hope we battle sometime