Potential ~ An Undefeated RU Team

[Troy98]

Overview

This is a hyper-offensive team with a bit of capability to set up and sweep. It is currently 8-0 and this team alone has brought me to 1847 on PS. The goal was to make a fairly standard team with the main teambuilding emphasis on type and coverage synergy, meaning anything that threatened one of my Pokemon could be checked by one or more of my others. Thanks to NfskMjmMal for helping me make this team!

At A Glance

The Team In Detail

Durant @ Life Orb
Trait: Hustle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Superpower

Durant is one of the best offensive powerhouses in the tier and becomes really scary after just one boost. This was a nice place to start the team off with: a solid attacker with nice boosting capabilities. Very standard set, but it's the most effective. Rock Slide is questionable, but my next team member has a Rock-type move that's more than powerful enough.

Entei @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Iron Head

Given that Durant is destroyed by Fire and there are many awesome Fire-types in RU, Entei gives me another great powerhouse and a nice Fire resist for Durant. The unconventional thing here is Iron Head. My next team member provides insane Grass STAB, and the minus Special Attack nature plus no boost from the Choice Band don't make HP Grass the most appealing. Adamant Choice Band Iron Head still does a ton of damage and is way better than the first 3 moves against Rock-types. However, I don't find its coverage all too useful, and it may be worth it to swap it out for HP Grass, Sleep Talk, or even Bite. Probably need an opinion on this.

Rotom-Mow @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt

Since I'm not running HP Grass and I need a Scarfer, Rotom-C fits the job perfectly. Yes, another standard set, but it works so well defensively and provides amazing coverage with the other 2. Don't really need HP Fire due to other much better Fire-options on my team, plus the extra power and non-switching of Tbolt is very appreciated.

Gallade (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Steadfast
EVs: 240 HP / 212 SDef / 56 Spd
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Substitute
- Night Slash

So after those three, what's missing so far? How about a good Fighting move. Gallade is also excellent for setting up and provides me with a little bulk (Entei and Rotom are naturally bulky but I felt like I needed a little more due to the offensive nature of the team). Thinking about it, I could use Ice Punch instead of Night Slash since I have no Ice attacks on my team, but Night Slash provides a little better coverage. Probably need an opinion here too.

Digimon (Druddigon) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock

Stealth Rocks are Stealth Rocks, but Druddigon also provides a nice set of resistances plus still a lot of power. It serves as a bulky pivot a lot of the time but still has the coverage and power when I need it, which is great. More standard sets? Even so, Druddigon provides a lot offensively that I was previously lacking. This is often my lead.

Slowking @ Choice Specs
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SAtk / 44 Spd
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Psyshock
- Fire Blast
- Trick

Rounds out the Fire-Water-Grass core and provides a great Ice resist because 2 of my Pokemon are weak to it. Slowking's natural bulk, Regenerator, and HP investment also allow me to use this as a bulky pivot at times, but along with great synergy comes awesome power. I do have two Pokemon with Trick, but my team also has 3 Choice Items, so it's not that big of a deal.


Thanks for any feedback, comments, and suggestions!

 

[PTJon7]

Overall I think the team is really solid. As far as I can tell it covers all its weaknesses well, though it does lack a solid way to deal with opposing Druddigons. Also why put Rough Skin on your Druddigon? I would think Mold Breaker is the better option, I could be wrong though and it seems like you know what you're doing.

Good luck with your future laddering!

 

[Troy98]

Overall I think the team is really solid. As far as I can tell it covers all its weaknesses well, though it does lack a solid way to deal with opposing Druddigons. Also why put Rough Skin on your Druddigon? I would think Mold Breaker is the better option, I could be wrong though and it seems like you know what you're doing.

Good luck with your future laddering!

Hmm, that is true. The team doesn't have any ice moves so I'll consider putting ice punch on Gallade to deal with opposing Druddigons.
I think rough skin is recommended because my Druddigon is more of a bulky pivot rather than an offensive powerhouse.

And thank you very much for your post and encouragement!

 

[NfskMjmMal]

Looking good!
> shameless self compliments

Anyway, I think your Gallade's ability should be Justified instead of Steadfast, as Dark-type moves are way more common than flinches.

Also, I think it would be beneficial to swap out Night Slash for Ice Punch. As far as losing super-effective coverage on Psychics and Ghosts go, Ice Punch does more than Night Slash does to Sigilyph, opposing Gallade, and Spiritomb. With a Substitute up, and especially after a Bulk Up, Dusknoir and Uxie usually can't really do anything to you, and Mespirit isn't really that big of an issue in any case. This does leave you completely walled by the very common Slowking, but this just means you need to realize that you just need to severely weaken or KO Slowking before trying to do work with Gallade. However, your Durant and Rotom-C can do this quite nicely.

 

[col49]

Hey Troy98, welcome to Smogon ^_^ This looks like a pretty solid team, albeit a little "standard", though I feel as though a few slight changes might help its performance.

Firstly, I would definitely encourage the use of Sleep Talk over Iron Head on Entei. The only target of Iron Head is Specially Defensive Regirock, which is both uncommon and handled aptly by the rest of your team. Sleep Talk offers your team a strong switch-in to Sleep inducers, helping to maintain offensive momentum and putting less pressure on Druddigon to play around Lilligant (since Rotom-C obviously can't check it and Durant can't even take a +1 HP Rock well). This also gives your team a solidified game plan for Lead Smeargle (Rotom-C Volt Switch --> Entei) to make up for your lack of immediate hazard removal, something every competitive RU team should prepare for imo.

Secondly, while I understand your thought process behind Gallade, I don't feel as though it makes the most of the teamslot. Due to the nature of the set Gallade really "slows down" the team in terms of offensive momentum, needing a few boosts under its belt to become threatening, and it allows Moltres essentially a free switch, and as long as it can hit a single Hurricane it basically guarantees a KO vs. your team when it comes in. That in mind, I feel as though your team might better appreciate Life Orb Sigilyph in its place. Similar to Gallade, Sigilyph is very threatening to stall, being capable of busting through common defensive cores with its powerful and diverse attacks and being immune to the passive damage stall teams rely upon thanks to Magic Guard. However, Sigilyph's notably higher Speed and immediate offensive presence prevent it from becoming exploitable by offensive teams.

tl;dr

• Iron Head ---> Sleep Talk

--->

Set

Sigilyph @ Life Orb | Magic Guard
Timid | 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Psyshock | Heat Wave | Energy Ball / Calm Mind | Roost

I hope some of my suggestions were helpful, good luck in the future =)

 

[Donkey]

8 battle not enough to put undefeated in title

 

[PTJon7]

It is undefeated, as he hasn't lost. In order to be placed on the ladder however he'll have to do a lot more battles. You can't deny that an 8 win streak to start off is pretty dang good.

 

[hathater]

druddigon doesnt seem good. it has a low movepool; try something else, lets say... zweilous; zweilous is a replacement, it has hustle and has the most powerful outrage in the entire meta game. durant is an increduble pokemon, its fine. this team is partly standard

 

[complete legitimacy]

Hey, this is a pretty good team you have here. I just have a couple suggestions that I think will improve the team. Firstly, Iron Head is a poor move choice on Entei. However, it does have utility against Regirock, and I think that's important to preserve. I'm going to recommend the SubCB variant here, as I feel that it can take your team to the next level. With Substitute, Entei can stall Regirock out of Stone Edge so that it has no way of damaging Entei, an d Entei can sweep the opposing team. It is better than Iron Head because it also has other uses, such as defending against Specs Tangrowth locked into Sleep Powder, as it can prevent any of your Pokemon from being slept, and if your opponent wants to stay in, Sleep Powder's PP will burn considerably. Here's the set, with a little commentary from Honko on how it works.

[pimg]244[/pimg]
Entei @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Stone Edge

Inspired by the Entei pioneers who use Iron Head solely to deal slightly more damage to Regirock, SubCB is a truly revolutionary set. Thanks to Pressure, you can stall out Regirock's Stone Edge with Substitute, rendering it completely helpless, assuming Entei didn't take any previous damage (bring a spinner!) and Regirock is a mono-attacker with Stone Edge as its only move (pray!). Once Regirock is out of the way, use your Healing Wish supporter to bring Entei back to full HP so it can dominate. This set is very underrated and also easy to build a team around, since you'll need several Pokemon dedicated to supporting Entei, and several more dedicated to countering the stuff it would normally beat if you just gave it HP Grass.

Now, SubCB Entei needs a little more support than your current set, but I think it can easily fit into the team. Firstly, I agree with col49 in that Gallade doesn't do much for the team. Therefore, it can be replaced by Healing Wish Mesprit, allowing Entei to function to its full potential. Also, it's not really a good idea to use any Entei set without a spinner, so I think that you need to fit one on there. A little more insurance against Moltres never hurts, as well as opposing Entei, so I think that a standard Swords Dance Kabutops would fit well over Durant. Kabutops still has a lot of raw power, and is walled by the same things as Durant anyway.

So, to summarize:

• SubCB Entei > current Entei
• Healing Wish Mesprit > Gallade
• Kabutops > Durant

Sets

Mesprit @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Healing Wish

Kabutops (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
- Rapid Spin

Good luck!

 

[NfskMjmMal]

Hey Troy98, welcome to Smogon ^_^ This looks like a pretty solid team, albeit a little "standard", though I feel as though a few slight changes might help its performance.

Firstly, I would definitely encourage the use of Sleep Talk over Iron Head on Entei. The only target of Iron Head is Specially Defensive Regirock, which is both uncommon and handled aptly by the rest of your team. Sleep Talk offers your team a strong switch-in to Sleep inducers, helping to maintain offensive momentum and putting less pressure on Druddigon to play around Lilligant (since Rotom-C obviously can't check it and Durant can't even take a +1 HP Rock well). This also gives your team a solidified game plan for Lead Smeargle (Rotom-C Volt Switch --> Entei) to make up for your lack of immediate hazard removal, something every competitive RU team should prepare for imo.

Secondly, while I understand your thought process behind Gallade, I don't feel as though it makes the most of the teamslot. Due to the nature of the set Gallade really "slows down" the team in terms of offensive momentum, needing a few boosts under its belt to become threatening, and it allows Moltres essentially a free switch, and as long as it can hit a single Hurricane it basically guarantees a KO vs. your team when it comes in. That in mind, I feel as though your team might better appreciate Life Orb Sigilyph in its place. Similar to Gallade, Sigilyph is very threatening to stall, being capable of busting through common defensive cores with its powerful and diverse attacks and being immune to the passive damage stall teams rely upon thanks to Magic Guard. However, Sigilyph's notably higher Speed and immediate offensive presence prevent it from becoming exploitable by offensive teams.

tl;dr

• Iron Head ---> Sleep Talk

--->

Set

Sigilyph @ Life Orb | Magic Guard
Timid | 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Psyshock | Heat Wave | Energy Ball / Calm Mind | Roost

I hope some of my suggestions were helpful, good luck in the future =)

Yeah, I think Sleep Talk is a much better option than Iron Head, as the only thing that really doesn't mind being put to sleep that much is Druddigon.

Hmmm, offensive Sigilyph is an interesting option, but I was actually thinking I could switch Gallade to an offensive one instead of a bulky Sub Bulk Up one.

Gallade @ Lum Berry
Trait: Justified
Adamant Nature
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Shadow Sneak
-Ice Punch

I like this a lot. If this doesn't end up working I'll consider the Sigilyph. Thanks!

druddigon doesnt seem good. it has a low movepool; try something else, lets say... zweilous; zweilous is a replacement, it has hustle and has the most powerful outrage in the entire meta game. durant is an increduble pokemon, its fine. this team is partly standard

Hmmm... why do you think Zweilous is a better choice than Druddigon? Would my team have no hazards then, because nobody else can set up hazards? And I think Druddigon's movepool is fine, because Outrage, Earthquake, and Sucker Punch provide great coverage, but I'm interested to hear why you think Zweilous is better.

Hey, this is a pretty good team you have here. I just have a couple suggestions that I think will improve the team. Firstly, Iron Head is a poor move choice on Entei. However, it does have utility against Regirock, and I think that's important to preserve. I'm going to recommend the SubCB variant here, as I feel that it can take your team to the next level. With Substitute, Entei can stall Regirock out of Stone Edge so that it has no way of damaging Entei, an d Entei can sweep the opposing team. It is better than Iron Head because it also has other uses, such as defending against Specs Tangrowth locked into Sleep Powder, as it can prevent any of your Pokemon from being slept, and if your opponent wants to stay in, Sleep Powder's PP will burn considerably. Here's the set, with a little commentary from Honko on how it works.



Now, SubCB Entei needs a little more support than your current set, but I think it can easily fit into the team. Firstly, I agree with col49 in that Gallade doesn't do much for the team. Therefore, it can be replaced by Healing Wish Mesprit, allowing Entei to function to its full potential. Also, it's not really a good idea to use any Entei set without a spinner, so I think that you need to fit one on there. A little more insurance against Moltres never hurts, as well as opposing Entei, so I think that a standard Swords Dance Kabutops would fit well over Durant. Kabutops still has a lot of raw power, and is walled by the same things as Durant anyway.

So, to summarize:

• SubCB Entei > current Entei
• Healing Wish Mesprit > Gallade
• Kabutops > Durant

Sets

Mesprit @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Healing Wish

Kabutops (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
- Rapid Spin

Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions! I think that Sleep Talk is actually a much better option than Substitute for a Choice Band set. I pretty much never see Regirock in RU, and I have Rotom-C and Slowking, who deal with it just fine. I think sleep fodder is more valuable for me especially given the rest of my team, but I'm listening if you think Sub on a choice band set is better than sleep talk.

Like I responded to col, I want to try this Gallade:

Gallade @ Lum Berry
Trait: Justified
Adamant Nature
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Shadow Sneak
-Ice Punch

I think that offers a lot more to the team in terms of offensive presence/momentum and coverage. Healing wish is an interesting option that I didn't think about. It seems good since a lot of my team doesn't have any form of recovery, but I'm not sure if Mespirit will really do as much work as that Gallade could. I'll keep it in mind though!

Hmmm... Kabutops. Well, I do have one weak to Rocks and almost all susceptible to (Toxic) Spikes. I kind of feel that Kabutops is a little too redundant with Entei and Slowking. You think it'll make up for the Bug coverage and general raw power I have on Durant?