I am pretty sure all of you might have thought "Let's make a team with the most powerful Mon!" sometime or the other. But the question is - which is the most powerful Mon? Every Pokemon in existence has its share of checks and counters. So, leave that fact aside. Just think - what is supposed to be the most powerful Poke? You guessed it right - Arceus (at least that is what I think. Sorry Mewtwo fans :p). The team I'm going to present today is wasn't supposed to be a defined Stall, Offense, Balance, Weather team, or anything close to it. This team was dedicated to Arceus.
However, as time passed, the centre of attention shifted from Arceus alone to all the Pokes that serve him (they also deserve some credit). This team, when I started, was much different and has changed quite substantially over time. So
let's see how I came up with what was supposed to be the strongest team ever (but 100% sure it isn't, I admit that :p) -
As a side note, this is the first time I've given nicknames to my Pokes and mentioned them, so if possible rate them as well :) just kidding...
Team Building-
Arceus had to be the crux of my team..
.. So here he is. I chose the ExtremeKiller Arceus, for reasons all Über players would be familiar with.
Then came the hard part- who would be his teammate? After some thinking, I realized Arceus is the master of two legendary trios. So, what would an Arceus team be ..
.. Without his first creations- the representatives of space, time and anti-matter? At first, I thought having three Dragons on my team might be dumb, but these three actually don't compound my weaknesses too much. Palkia and Dialga are neutral to Ice, Dialga is neutral to even Dragon, and I still have two more team slots to go.
So, my team was looking decent. Next, I wanted something that can provide some defensive support to my team. So, ..
.. Lugia was my choice. It's massive 106/130/154 defenses combined with Multiscale mean that even when uninvested, Lugia is capable of taking hits like a boss. On paper, it seems to compound my Ice weakness, but Multiscale and Roost make up for it.
Lastly, a proper revenge killer was needed. Though this may not be the first Poke that comes to your mind when you think of solid Scarfers, ..
.. But I won't hesitate to say Mewtwo is the single best revenge killer I've played with, and I've talked about it later on.
Although this team was working well, in fact better than I expected, but there were a few things I noticed. Firstly, Mewtwo, given his power and speed, was doing the sweeping job most of the time, meaning that EK Arceus wasn't doing much. Also, my team seemed to lack 'something', because of which I frequently lost against stall teams. So, a few changes were made. I replaced EK Arceus with a mixed Dragon Arceus (Judgment/Outrage/EQ/Fire Blast, similar EV spread to my Giratina given below). However, Arceus only increased my problems in handling other fast Ice Beamers/Outragers, so I changed it to Dark Arceus. Also, I changed Palkia from Haban Berry to Choice Specs. I also changed Lugia from a dual screener to a more defensive set.
The Master
Arceus Dark @Dread Plate
EVs: 248 HP/8 SpAttk/252 Spe
Ability: Multitype
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Attk)
Substitute
Recover
Calm Mind
Judgement
*firstly, extremely sorry for the wrong pic. Remember, this is Dark Arceus*
As I mentioned, this used to be an ExtremeKiller, then mixed Dragon, and now Dark Arceus. The moves are pretty self-explanatory, the major change being Substitute over Refresh. I remember a match where I had my paralyzed Arceus against a Jirachi. He switched to his Dialga, while I remained paralyzed that turn, and that Dialga KOed me with Aura Sphere. Ever since then, I've been using Substitute, to completely avoid this stupid ParaHax. Apart from that, Substitute also blocks things like Leech Seed, Dark Void (which could screw me over even if I have refresh) and revenge killing attempts, so it works well. I'm using Recover anyways, so loss of HP isn't to much of a problem. Though this Arceus still somewhat struggles against more offensive teams, where there is less time to set up, and random Aura Spheres and Focus Blasts are thrown around, but against stall teams, it really helps.
I was thinking of trying out Water Arceus, as it gives me a switch in to Ice attacks while also maintaining decent offensive prescence, or Steel Arceus, for giving more defensive stability to my team. So tell me if any of those would work.
Time
Dialga @Leftovers
EVs: 240 HP/56 SpAttk/200 SpDef/12 Spe
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Modest (+SpAttk,-Attk)
Stealth Rock
Draco Meteor
Fire Blast
Thunder
Dialga has the easiest job on my team - set up Rocks and start smacking things. Even with a somewhat defensively oriented EV spread, Dialga has some serious power behind its attacks, and combine that with moves that have prefect coverage, you'll see that things could be dead on Turn 1. Against Kyogre, Dialga is my lead of choice, so Thunder is used in the last slot. 12 Speed is used because the loss of bulk is negligible, but getting the jump on uninvested, as well as random 4 Spe and 8 Spe base 90s can be invaluable at times. Dialga is also my status absorber of sorts - it is immune to poison and doesn't mind a burn. Neither is it supposed to be fast (there is no shortage of 252 Spe base 90s) so paralysis isn't the worst case scenario either.
Space
Palkia @Choice Specs
EVs: 252 SpAttk/252 Spe/4 Def
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Timid (+Spe,-Attk)
Spacial Rend
Hydro Pump
Fire Blast
Thunder
Earlier, this used to be a Haban Berry set. However, since Palkia is my main switch in to Kyogre mid- or late game, it gets worn down quite easily. And once it gets to, like 50-60%, even Haban can't save it from some of the more powerful Dragon attacks. So, Haban out, Specs in. Palkia is one of the more effective Specs user I've seen, for two reasons- first, Spacial Rend is a really consistent move, and with a Specs boost, hits really hard (especially when you are used to Scarf Palkia). Second, it's speed. 328 Speed lets it outpace a ton of non-scarfed Pokes, which is always good.
As a side note, I'm not sure why am I not using Dragon Pulse over Spacial Rend. It has better PP, 100% accuracy, and with a Specs boost, it can hit almost as hard as anything else. So tell me if that would be a good idea.
Anti-Matter
Giratina-O @ Leftovers
EVs: 244 Attk/252 SpAttk/12 Spe
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Lonely (+Attk,-Def)
Draco Meteor
Outrage
Earthquake
Aura Sphere
Base 120 attacking stats may not be the best in the tier, but as strange as it may sound, this Giratina functions best against more defensively oriented teams. I've seen that sometimes, people leave in their Blissey/Chansey/Tyranitar/other specially defensive Poke maybe because they expect a special variant, so Attack is maximized to hit them as hard as possible. 2 special moves with perfect coverage, 2 physical moves with (near) perfect coverage - it basically means you just have to click the right move at the right time and watch things take massive damage. Ever since I've changed EK Arceus, the lack of priority somewhat hurts, but then it's difficult to find room for Shadow Sneak on this set. I sometimes think of using a purely physical set (Outrage/EQ/S Sneak/filler) but haven't tried it yet, and I believe Zekrom outclasses it in that respect.
Guardian
Lugia @Leftovers
EVs: 248 HP/252 Spe/8 Def
Ability: Multiscale
Nature: Timid (+Spe,-Attk)
Substitue
Toxic
Roost
Whirlwind
Some of you might have noticed the weird thing - Sub on a Multiscale set? Well, I've had some good experience playing with Lugia, and I've seen that rather than attacking, people throw status moves at Lugia like crazy. This maybe because poison and burn make it impossible for Lugia to keep its Multiscale up, and most people don't expect Multiscale+Sub. Then, I can Toxic the foe, and stall him with Roost, which is not that hard given Lugia's base 110 speed, which is crazy high for such a defensive Poke. I mean, Lugia is actually capable of outrunning every common unboosted Über, except a few. Lugia is the main defensive backbone of my team, so before suggesting something else make sure it can hold off strong attacks for my team like Lugia.
Killer
Mewtwo @Choice Scarf
EVs: 252 SpAttk/252 Spe/4 SpDef
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Modest (+SpAttk,-Attk)
Psystrike
Ice Beam
Aura Sphere
Shadow Ball
As I said before, this set right here is the ultimate combination of speed, reliable power and coverage - the qualities of a top revenge killer. Even with a neutral Speed nature, Mewtwo's speed reaches 538, enough to comfortably outrun all unboosted Pokes in the game, as well as every relevant Scarfer in the game except Darkrai and Shaymin-S (and those two arent commonly seen with a Scarf either). Using a Modest nature, Mewtwo's Special Attack reaches a frightening 447. None of the moves listed are short of 100% accuracy. Psystrike is the obvious STAB, hitting many Ubers on their weaker physical side, thus allowing Mewtwo to literally hit from both ends of the spectrum. Ice Beam is for the plethora of Dragons running around. ShadowSphere has perfect coverage, while also allowing me to revenge weakened Deoxys-A. Combine all these factors, and you can conclude that getting a KO with Mewtwo is as simple as clicking the appropriate move (with appropriate prediction, of course).
Frankly, I haven't been able to spot any glaring weaknesses. All matches that I've lost with the team have been because of misplays on my part - losing wrong Poke at the wrong time, not predicting well to give momentum to the opposition, etc. However, I've been able to sneak into the top 100 with this team - as mentioned, peaked at #56. I'm saying this again, I'm doing this through an iPad so I'm not sure how can I put a screenshot. But I'm not bragging, and I don't believe in telling lies, (one of the reasons why Reshiram is my favourite 5th gen Dragon :p) or at least not when it comes to little things like Pokemon.
Nevermind, I'm still open to any suggestions.
- Salamence97
