First Team Ever.....Hyper Offense!

My First Team - Boosted Offense
Hello, this is the first team I have created that has had success. With this team I am able to compete with almost any sort of team and have often gotten streaks of wins such as 11-1, 15-2, etc. This team is based on the hyper offense mantra, and nearly all my pokemon are pure attackers, that can boost themselves and then be able to take out nearly an entire team on their own. I still need to get better at predicting, and be able to sacrifice all my boosts for a switch, which I am always hesitant to do.
So here's my wonderful team:

Twister.png

Dragonite @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- Extreme Speed
Dragonite is one of my top attacking pokemon, and is able to combat away a lot of threats to my team, namely anything that has priority, as it can absorb the damage from all priority moves. Usually if I see that the other mon has something that I would take super effective damage from, I boost up a dragon dance so I can outspeed them the next turn for an OHKO. Multiscale and Weakness Policy are an absurd combo, allowing for the initial supper effective damage intake to give me an overall boost of 2.5x atk and 1.5 spd right after the first term. Pranksters that are not ghosts get raped by extremespeed and so do things like breloom, talonflame which want a priority move to take me out. I usually start this thing off so that I can get a boost off and wait for a switch to something that damages it with super effective move. This way I can get an attack value of 3x, which just rips an entire team apart. This set runs fire punch to deal with skarmories, forretress and ferrothorn, and dragon claw to shake up anything that isn't a fairy or steel type. Fire punch takes care of most fairy types except for azumarill, which is 2hkod with extreme speed anyway majority of the time.

320px-Excadrill_anime2.png

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 SAtk / 30 SDef
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Poison Jab
Excadrill, this is probably my favorite mon on this team. Initially I put the excadrill into my team to be able to spin away all the stealth rocks that damage my team oh so much (dragonite and thundurus), but then this thing showed me just how much power it has got. Once all the initial threats to this dude have been taken care of it can just sweep an entire team with just earthquakes. I found that if I replace the choice scarf with any other item, I become waay too slow to be able to do the damage I need to do, hence why I have chosen a choice scarf set, even though it limits me with potential switch-ins. I am carrying around poison jab around mainly because of azumarill, but that thing usually 2hkos me with aqua jets anyway so I think that brick-break or iron head are potential switches for that move, let me know what you think. Excadrill requires quite a bit of guess power, as many people like to switch in something with a flying type, naturally, so you have to decide whether you want to continue with the earthquake or choose rock slide in favor of it.

mega_gyarados_by_theangryaron-d6r11fl.png

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Bite
Since this is the generation 6 metagame, I really really NEED to have a mega in my team. I've been playing around with plenty of megas, such as Lucario and Kangaskhan. I replaced the Lucario because it would make me have 3 steels in my team, and the Kangaskhan because of the immense possibility of a ban. Gyarados seems to serve an amazing function within the team. Both the normal and mega form cover different threats, and it makes the opponent scream when they throw me a focus blast or another fighting move only for me to remain in my normal form. Moxie is there so that I can revenge kill for a boost and then change form. I am not sure if bite is doing this set service, it becomes usefull only once a dragon dance has been performed, but I am hesitant to switch it as it takes care of celebi and latios/latias quite easily. Dragon Dance is usually quite easily setup, and I just love killing with Rotom-W's that think they can OHKO me with a volt switch but instead get OHKO'd themselves when I change form and hit them with a mold breaker earthquake. I still think that some other mega might be better in this slot, medicham perhaps? but I am not sure if I can find anything else that shares synergy with the team as well as this mega does.

therian_form_thundurus_by_namh-d5dfk2d-jpg.4966

Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast
I realized how much of my team was made up of physical attackers, so the thundurus-therian provides an amazing amount of coverage. HP Ice is to take care of Londurus, Gliscor, and other dragon types. One problem I have with this set is the lack of grass moves, and this is the problem with the entire team. But hidden power grass does not do enough damage, and grass knot is effective enough on the main threats, such as Rotom-W. Nasty Plot is needed to give me that extra boost I need to take down pretty much anything, and I found out that replacing it with HP grass would not benefit me too much. Focus Blast is just there to deal with all the annoying physical walls out there such as chansey, or OHKO a mamoswine on the switch in, or the rare avalugg. This thing lacks serious bulk, so a lot of things can absorb a hit if not nasty plotted and K.O back with ease. I am unsure whether I should invest in a more bulky variant.

tumblr_mv57jatDRw1qf08ego1_400.png

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Substitute
- Swagger
- Foul Play
Klefki is an amazing mon for a prankster, especially with that swag move and thunder wave. This thing is just there to provide some defense, and it is a last case scenario against many mons, such as aegislash when the rest of my team is having trouble. The paralysis spreading is a bitch, and swagger can usually make most offensive attack based pokemon K.O. themselves. I used to run a Deoxys-D here but I find this much better, in case anyone has any better suggestions let me know. This thing is very reliable, but it falls extremely easily to anyone with any sort of fire move or earthquake. I want to replace it with aegislash but am not sure if that will prove to be a wise move. I want to replace substitute on this set, as the majority of the times it doesn't benefit me too much, but it is very important in certain stall situations.

1379038938347.jpg

Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk
- Aqua Jet
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Return
Azumarill is just there to provide some bulky offense, and to take some of the fire damage my other pokemon would struggle with. Before this, the space was filled with a choice spec politoad, but I felt it died too easily, so I just ended up replacing it with this Azumarill, which allows me to take damage from the ever prevalent dragon types out there in outrage and allows me to set up that belly drum combo. Play Rough lets me take out stuff such as trevenant with relative ease, what I've found is that Rotom-W just totally walls this thing, as it is faster. Azumarill is not able to get off an attack except Aqua jet before it goes down. I am unsure if I want to replace leftovers with a sitrus berry, as usually I am able to set up relatively easy on a switch. I still am not totally pleased with this spot and am looking for another water type that could bring in a similar bulk and firepower into play without having to use choice items, but haven't found anything yet.

Importable Version:

Dragonite @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- Extreme Speed

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 SAtk / 30 SDef
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Poison Jab

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Bite

Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Substitute
- Swagger
- Foul Play

Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk
- Aqua Jet
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Return
 
Last edited:
make nite jolly, cause it sort of needs the speed. Also, weaknite is common enough that people will know, and prediction is half the battle. Bluff weaknite and instead put on expert belt.
 
Aight, let me make some quick comments here, mainly running down the 'Mons for now, I'll try to get a full-out rate in in the next couple days if I've got the time. But dope team man, I love 6th Gen HO :]

'Drill doesn't want Scarf, you're better off Scarfing Thun-T, since it's got access to the momentum-grabbing Volt Switch. You're better off running something like this:

530.gif

Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon / Chople Berry / Shuca Berry / Occa Berry (only with Rock Slide)
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock / Rock Slide / Swords Dance
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head / Swords Dance

Although you miss out on the speed of Scarf, this 'Drill allows you to get the spin off a lot more reliably, with a huge choice of items to choose from. Balloon and Shuca ward you against ground moves, Chople against Fighting (this lets you beat the two most popular spin-blockers, Aegislash and Gengar), and Occa for Talonflame, letting you OHKO it back with Rock Slide. Your HO team really wants Stealth Rocks, just for the residual damage it causes, since you're gonna be forcing a lot of switches with your offensive 'Mons. Iron Head is a great secondary STAB with decent neutral coverage, but you're mainly gonna be spamming EQ.

The speed EVs let you beat max base 70s with a little speed creep, and the rest is thrown into attack and HP.


Mega Gyara definitely wants Ice Fang to get rid of Grass and Dragon types, especially Multiscale Dragonite. Also, if you're going Adamant, you should run a spread of
180 Spd / 252 Atk / 72 HP / 4 Def, which lets you beat max Mega Ttar with a little speed creep, but you'll have more bulk overall. Alternatively, a spread of 168 Spd / 252 Atk / 88 HP with a Jolly nature lets you beat Jolteon after a Dragon Dance (this is probably the fastest you'll need to go).

Yeah, so with Thunderus, you'd want Scarf and Volt Switch > Nasty Plot; Thunderus has great speed and power, which makes him optimal for a choice set. If you still want to run LO, put the 4 HP EVs into Sp Def, 'cuz 299 HP is a perfect Life Orb number (it minimizes the recoil damage)

Klefki doesn't really have a spot on a dedicated HO team, but you could use it as a lead with Spikes. Really, you want as many hazards as possible.

I'd personally recommend Froslass, a very underrated HO lead, but it can spinblock while it sets up spikes, and can net you a free kill with DBond.

Froslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam / Shadow Ball
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Destiny Bond

LiquidOcelot's suggestion of Deo-D is also pretty cool, I'd run a spread like this:

Deoxys-Defense @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 228 Spd / 248 HP / 32 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Night Shade
- Spikes
- Taunt / Magic Coat
- Recover

The speed lets you outpace lead Smeargle and Custap Skarm and Taunt them, which is great for an HO lead. Magic Coat lets you bounce Taunts back at opposing Deo-D and also Smeargle and Skarm, but requires a bit more prediction; it also lets set-up sweepers set up on you. The main downside to Deo-D is that you don't have a spinblocker, so a Forretress or something can come in at any time to wipe all your hazards away. It's pretty much on you to maintain enough offensive pressure to minimize the opponent's chances of pulling off a successful spin; that's mainly why I like Froslass better.

Though I'm not a big fan of the dual Waters, in this case I like how they can weaken each other's checks for one of 'em to sweep. However, Belly Drum Azu isn't really a great 'Mon, as you're not really taking advantage of its bulk. Also, +6 Aqua Jet isn't as good as it sounds...I'd run the standard CB set:

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 8 Spd / 252 Atk / 248 HP
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

It's a very hit-and-run style that forces a lot of switches, good if you're running Spikes and Stealth Rocks. Knock Off does huge damage to Aegislash, Tentacruel, and Jellicent, three very annoying 'Mons to Azu. Basically just bring it in, and if they have a bulky water, use Play Rough, if they don't, use Waterfall. The damage output is massive.

Sorry this is really unorganized, I'll add more and clean it up when I have more time. Good luck with the team :]
 
Make Klefki a dual screener. With so many of your mon being set up sweepers you want the buffed defenses to get them off reliably.

Give Azumarill Sitrus berry which will activate as soon as you use Belly Drum, much safer.

Replace Bite with Taunt on Gyarados. If you know they have a bulky sweeper or a Prankster that's going to status or wall you then Taunt shuts them down HARD. Great against Skarmory and other Whirlwind users too. Also recommend Intimidate too for safer switches. Taunting a slower Rotom is fun that switches in so you can Megavolve and hit with Mold Breaker EQ. Otherwise use Ice Fang for Grass types and flying Dragons.

Stick with scarf Excadrill. It's handy to have a fast revenge killer and its a great check to Rotom, Talonflame and gets surprise kills on Gengar. Consider Shadow Claw instead though so you can hit Lati@s hard along with Trevenant/Ghourgeist. STAB EQ is stronger than super effective Poison Jab anyway on Azumarill and you have Rock Slide for Togekiss. X-Scissor likewise can be useful if you're having trouble with Grass types.
 
Stick with scarf Excadrill. It's handy to have a fast revenge killer and its a great check to Rotom, Talonflame and gets surprise kills on Gengar. Consider Shadow Claw instead though so you can hit Lati@s hard along with Trevenant/Ghourgeist. STAB EQ is stronger than super effective Poison Jab anyway on Azumarill and you have Rock Slide for Togekiss. X-Scissor likewise can be useful if you're having trouble with Grass types.

Honestly imo Exca isn't at that great speed tier for Scarf, and he forfeits too much offensive pressure for the team, which means losing hazards or letting something set up. Also his main STAB EQ is very exploitable to things such as Lum DNite, whereas his main coverage move in Rock Slide has too low of a base power to have significance, and allows him to be set up on by a multitude of other things. STAB EQ is actually not stronger than a super effective Poison Jab IIRC (150 to 160), although I agree that the extra coverage is pretty useless. Though if he really does want to go with Scarf, I'd consider Iron Head, as it's only got 20 less BP than a super effective Shadow Claw (which doesn't 2HKO phys. defensive Trev anyway, let alone Gourgheist). X-Scissor, again, is another sub-par move to get locked into.

People don't stay in with Washtom as Excadrill naturally outspeeds it, unless it's a Scarf Washtom locked into Hydro Pump, which is a very specific situation (Scarf Washtom's been getting worse and worse since BW2 imo). Also, he doesn't really have much for Washtom to want to HPump besides Thundurus.

You may think but being able to switch moves is of little use with Excadrills crucial weaknesses and mediocre defenses and speed. You'll find common switch ins you wouldn't want to stick around for after you used Rapid Spin anyway. You make up for it in surprise kills, I assure you.

Excadrill's mediocre defenses are remedied by Balloon or Chople Berry, as the latter lets him KO Gengar anyway. He's got plenty of opportunities to spin, and honestly that's Excadrill's main niche on an HO team - spin, push damage on walls, and die/lategame sweep.
 
This team would get hard walled for the most part by a combo of Quagsire, WoW Sableye (who can also Taunt your boosters) and Blissey/Chansey (Chansey can easy swap into Quagsire or Sableye for a physical fighting hit), I would maybe make one of your sweepers mixed as a result to stop this. Which one is up to you, it really depends on which mon you've noticed isn't pulling its weight synergistically.
 
Aight, so here's the rate I promised a few days ago if you're still following this thread. Sorry for the delay, exams are some freaky shit haha.

Note: Format is crap, I'm doing this on my phone, when I hop on my comp I'll make it look better and stuff :]

So first, we gotta consider the ultimate goal of your team, which to me seems like a end-game DNite and Gyarados DD sweep.

Since your team is packed with powerful attackers and sweepers, hazard support would be greatly appreciated, and can conveniently be supplied by Klefki (spikes) and Excadrill (SR). My first change would probably be to slot Spikes over Swagger (although it's a pretty swag move) on Klefki, as with Prankster it'll be easy to find chances to set 'em up. You won't miss out on Foul Play's increased damage output with Swagger due to the extremely physically-inclined threats this Gen, and most special threats are hit hard by the move anyway (like LO Gengar). Swagger-Foul Play is considered to be a pretty gimmicky strat to begin with (though I'll admit it's really fun to use lol), and doesn't offer much for your team, as it makes Klefki kind of a stand-alone 'Mon, especially without hazards, where the opponent could just switch back and forth while you run out of swag.

Secondly, although Scarf Excadrill is made somewhat more viable due to Mold Breaker, it's not the best choice for a Scarfer, for reasons I mentioned above. I would recommend a spread of 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spe Adamant with a Chople/Shuca berry, with a set of EQ | SR | spin | Iron Head/SD. Trust me, Exca is meant to be played extremely aggressively on HO, and he is purely there for the spin (and in this case the SR as well). HO depends on the rest of the team to maintain enough offensive pressure that, in an ideal situation, the opponent will have no chance to a) spin/defog and b) keep setting hazards up.

You shouldn't miss the lack of an RK'er too much, as you have 2 strong priority moves in ESpeed and Aqua Jet, and also Klefki's TWave for emergencies - but I'd you want (this is up to you) I'm gonna take this time to suggest Scarf Thundurus-T, who can maintain offensive pressure with Volt Switch while being at an incredible speed tier, beating ScarfMence, Scarf 'Rachi, and more. Something like 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid with Thunderbolt | HP Ice/Grass | Focus Blast | Volt Switch.

Now, after the hazards are set up, you'll want something that can wear down DNite and Gyarados's checks. I like how you ran Azumarill, 'cuz it fits the role perfectly. Imo, Belly Drum isn't helping your team much, because although it's a dope move, most Belly Drummers have teams built around them to support them, not vice versa - running Drum Azu renders your two DD'ers kind of redundant, because there will never be a time when you'll have to use all three. Therefore, I'd suggest CB Azumarill instead, with a spread of 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe Adamant (minimizes residuals while getting creep on opposing Azu/stuff that EVs to outspend Azu), and a set of Waterfall | Play Rough | Aqua Jet | Knock Off/Superpower (most likely knock off, since people are starting to realize Ferrothorn isn't as great in XY compared to BW - Knock Off deals huge amounts of damage to Aeg and Jelli on the switch).

Eh, that's pretty much it for now, it's 2AM over here so Imma re read this in the morning and add more stuff possibly. But yeah, I hope this was helpful. Again, great team, I love HO and Azu :]
 
Hey, thanks a lot for the rates guys, glad you liked the first team I created. Sorry that I didn't reply until now as I was quite busy with my finals, and had no time to test out the suggestions, or even reply to them for that matter. I'll give a go at your suggestions, and I like the majority of them. Tokyo, Tom, thanks for the amazing rate, I just have a few quick questions for you. I was wondering if it is worth it to switch out my klefki's substitute with either light screen or reflect, as substitute is basically there for stall. I like your suggestions on excadrill, the only reason I am quite reluctant is Rotom-W, I absolutely hate that pesky thing all over OU teams. I realized that my lack of hazards was hurting me, especially when talonflame was involved. Oh and I was wondering which berry would work the best from the ones that you listed, or would air balloon maybe be a better option? Also, would iron head, rock slide, or shadow claw be the best option to take that last slot in excadrill arsenal. I like your suggestion on Thundurus-T too, as HP grass might let me take care of Quagsire, which has annoyed me to absolutely no end. Oh, and should I switch that bite on my gyarados with ice fang, I am quite hesitant to make the change as gyarados has OHKO'd Celebi, Trevenant, Gourgeist, etc, after a single DD boost.

I guess that you are right about azumarill, I'll just have to get better at prediction. Since I just started I am absolutely awful at it. Sableye annoys me quite a bit, since most of my pokemon are physical attackers, and so do any of the rotoms, and I like the suggestions given by Jojobobo, it would help me quite a bit to add in a mixed attacker into the team, but there seems to be no slot at all for them. I was thinking about replacing klefki with deoxys D as I had it originally, but what I've noticed with deoxys D is that it is setup bait, unlike klefki, which can easily throwout something due to prankster before it falls to an attack. I really wish that Sableye could set up spikes, so I could use him as a mix of hazard setter, spin blocker, and will-o-wisper. I feel the need to have a spinblocker, but there seem to be no viable candidates that could take a spot on my team, so I am just sticking to Klefki unless a nice suggestion comes along.

On another note: I managed to max out at 2k with this team while laddering with only a single loss before I lost my username to an internet crash (yup, I should start registering my usernames), which is amazing for me being new and all.
 
No problem, I'm glad I could help :]

I was wondering if it is worth it to switch out my klefki's substitute with either light screen or reflect, as substitute is basically there for stall.

Eh, mb haha, definitely. I'd say Reflect atm, mainly to combat Talonflame n' such. You might also want to consider Rain Dance for checking Sunny day teams (pretty situational, but meh, it helps Azu and Gyara anyway), Draining Kiss for STAB and decent recovery, or even Heal Block to prevent walls from recovering (kinda really gimmicky lol, but you can actually beat a lot of stuff 1v1 with it, and if a wall switches in on you, you can prevent them from Recovering). Sub might be useful to avoid the Spore from Smeargle and the TWave from opposing Klefki, so the option's always there I guess.

I might as well take this time to tinker with the spread; a spread of 200 HP / 252 Def / 52 SDef / 4 Spd Bold with 0 Atk IVs gives you a lefties number, beats opposing Klefki running 0 speed, and minimizes Foul Play/confusion damage.

I like your suggestions on excadrill, the only reason I am quite reluctant is Rotom-W, I absolutely hate that pesky thing all over OU teams.

Don't worry about Washtom, the only viable set nowadays (besides Choice, which sucks) is the defensive variant, which has minimum speed (and sometimes even lower Speed IVs to under-speed other Washtom to have a slower Volt Switch). This Exca set should outspeed pretty much any non-scarf Washtom out there, even outspeeding those guys still used to 5th Gen (5th Gen Washtom ran 263-4 speed, this 'Drill has 265)

Yeah so again, the set should be something like this (I've narrowed down the choices, sorry for the confusion haha):

530.gif

Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon / Chople (fighting resist) Berry / Shuca (ground resist) Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head / Swords Dance

Honestly STAB Iron Head and STAB EQ out damage most of the other options, or come pretty close, flinch chance on Iron Head comes in handy sometimes too. Rock Slide is only really for hitting Talonflame on the switch, but other than that it's a pretty subpar coverage move.

Oh, and should I switch that bite on my gyarados with ice fang, I am quite hesitant to make the change as gyarados has OHKO'd Celebi, Trevenant, Gourgeist, etc, after a single DD boost.

Although STAB Bite (and its flinch chance) does have its uses, Ice Fang lets you OHKO Dragons, especially Multiscale Dragonite, who could pose a big threat to your sweep. It also lets you beat Grass types like Breloom, while maintaining coverage on Trev and Gourgheist (I can understand it sucks missing out on the Trevenant OHKO, but you shouldn't be OHKOing any size of Gourgheist assuming it's 252/252+)
130-m.png

Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 180 Spd / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake / Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Fang / Substitute

Since Azu does such a great job at wearing down opposing bulky waters, you could always opt for Sub to avoid Will-o-Wisp damage n' stuff. Also it's pretty uncommon on Mega Gyara, so the surprise factor may net you a free turn here and there. The EVs let you outpace Adamant 252 Mega Ttar before a boost with a little speed creep, as well as potentially threatening base 115s like Starmie and Raikou at +1.

Again, a spread of 168 Spd / 252 Atk / 88 HP with a Jolly nature lets you beat base 130s like Jolteon and Crobat after a Dragon Dance.

I guess that you are right about azumarill, I'll just have to get better at prediction. Since I just started I am absolutely awful at it. Sableye annoys me quite a bit, since most of my pokemon are physical attackers, and so do any of the rotoms, and I like the suggestions given by Jojobobo, it would help me quite a bit to add in a mixed attacker into the team, but there seems to be no slot at all for them.

Trust me, Azumarill is a lot easier to play than it sounds. Basically if you're facing a water-weak 'Mon and they have a Water resistance on their team, hit Play Rough. If they don't spam Waterfall. If they have an Aegislash or Tentacruel, hit Knock Off. Azu's really hit-and-run, you essentially switch him in, get a strong hit on whatever the opponent brings out, then you most likely will switch Azu back out right away.

Lum Berry on DNite would alleviate your issues with Sableye somewhat, but Thundurus does 80+% to physically bulky variants anyway with Tbolt so it should be OK. With DNite though, change the spread to 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe, as it minimizes residuals from SR, etc. Adamant nature is fine even though everyone tries to outspeed it; you need the extra power. I might also just consider Outrage over DClaw straight up, but that's just personal preference.


I was thinking about replacing klefki with deoxys D as I had it originally, but what I've noticed with deoxys D is that it is setup bait, unlike klefki, which can easily throwout something due to prankster before it falls to an attack. I really wish that Sableye could set up spikes, so I could use him as a mix of hazard setter, spin blocker, and will-o-wisper. I feel the need to have a spinblocker, but there seem to be no viable candidates that could take a spot on my team, so I am just sticking to Klefki unless a nice suggestion comes along.

Deo-D can Taunt and also outpaces Smeargle, which is really nice to have - makes for a better lead too. It also has Recover if you want it to stick around for the mid-game. But Klefki has prankster and a better typing, so it's really a toss-up (not to mention access to Foul Play).

Since you are running HO, I'd really consider Froslass. It's got a blazing base 110 speed, and it can Taunt the opposing lead as well. It has two good STAB choices in Ice Beam or Shadow Ball, and it can set up Spikes very well with a Focus Sash (not to mention its ability Cursed Body, which has a 30% chance of shutting down choiced 'Mons, etc.) It's also made a bit better this Gen since two of its worst nightmares in terms of lead matchups, Aero and Scarf Jirachi, are not as prevalent as they were in 5th and 4th Gen.
478.gif

Froslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam / Shadow Ball
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Destiny Bond

Definitely try this out though. It's a great lead, can spin-block its own hazards, and nets a free kill (or forces the opponent out, forcing them to take more hazard damage) with Destiny Bond. It's pretty predictable, but it works well with HO. The only problem is the Defog really screws suicide leads over, so you'll have to take that into account first.

And 'grats on the peak dude :] was that before or after the changes?
 
No problem, I'm glad I could help :]



Eh, mb haha, definitely. I'd say Reflect atm, mainly to combat Talonflame n' such. You might also want to consider Rain Dance for checking Sunny day teams (pretty situational, but meh, it helps Azu and Gyara anyway), Draining Kiss for STAB and decent recovery, or even Heal Block to prevent walls from recovering (kinda really gimmicky lol, but you can actually beat a lot of stuff 1v1 with it, and if a wall switches in on you, you can prevent them from Recovering). Sub might be useful to avoid the Spore from Smeargle and the TWave from opposing Klefki, so the option's always there I guess.

I might as well take this time to tinker with the spread; a spread of 200 HP / 252 Def / 52 SDef / 4 Spd Bold with 0 Atk IVs gives you a lefties number, beats opposing Klefki running 0 speed, and minimizes Foul Play/confusion damage.



Don't worry about Washtom, the only viable set nowadays (besides Choice, which sucks) is the defensive variant, which has minimum speed (and sometimes even lower Speed IVs to under-speed other Washtom to have a slower Volt Switch). This Exca set should outspeed pretty much any non-scarf Washtom out there, even outspeeding those guys still used to 5th Gen (5th Gen Washtom ran 263-4 speed, this 'Drill has 265)

Yeah so again, the set should be something like this (I've narrowed down the choices, sorry for the confusion haha):

530.gif

Excadrill (M) @ Air Balloon / Chople (fighting resist) Berry / Shuca (ground resist) Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head / Swords Dance

Honestly STAB Iron Head and STAB EQ out damage most of the other options, or come pretty close, flinch chance on Iron Head comes in handy sometimes too. Rock Slide is only really for hitting Talonflame on the switch, but other than that it's a pretty subpar coverage move.



Although STAB Bite (and its flinch chance) does have its uses, Ice Fang lets you OHKO Dragons, especially Multiscale Dragonite, who could pose a big threat to your sweep. It also lets you beat Grass types like Breloom, while maintaining coverage on Trev and Gourgheist (I can understand it sucks missing out on the Trevenant OHKO, but you shouldn't be OHKOing any size of Gourgheist assuming it's 252/252+)
130-m.png

Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 180 Spd / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake / Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Fang / Substitute

Since Azu does such a great job at wearing down opposing bulky waters, you could always opt for Sub to avoid Will-o-Wisp damage n' stuff. Also it's pretty uncommon on Mega Gyara, so the surprise factor may net you a free turn here and there. The EVs let you outpace Adamant 252 Mega Ttar before a boost with a little speed creep, as well as potentially threatening base 115s like Starmie and Raikou at +1.

Again, a spread of 168 Spd / 252 Atk / 88 HP with a Jolly nature lets you beat base 130s like Jolteon and Crobat after a Dragon Dance.



Trust me, Azumarill is a lot easier to play than it sounds. Basically if you're facing a water-weak 'Mon and they have a Water resistance on their team, hit Play Rough. If they don't spam Waterfall. If they have an Aegislash or Tentacruel, hit Knock Off. Azu's really hit-and-run, you essentially switch him in, get a strong hit on whatever the opponent brings out, then you most likely will switch Azu back out right away.

Lum Berry on DNite would alleviate your issues with Sableye somewhat, but Thundurus does 80+% to physically bulky variants anyway with Tbolt so it should be OK. With DNite though, change the spread to 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe, as it minimizes residuals from SR, etc. Adamant nature is fine even though everyone tries to outspeed it; you need the extra power. I might also just consider Outrage over DClaw straight up, but that's just personal preference.




Deo-D can Taunt and also outpaces Smeargle, which is really nice to have - makes for a better lead too. It also has Recover if you want it to stick around for the mid-game. But Klefki has prankster and a better typing, so it's really a toss-up (not to mention access to Foul Play).

Since you are running HO, I'd really consider Froslass. It's got a blazing base 110 speed, and it can Taunt the opposing lead as well. It has two good STAB choices in Ice Beam or Shadow Ball, and it can set up Spikes very well with a Focus Sash (not to mention its ability Cursed Body, which has a 30% chance of shutting down choiced 'Mons, etc.) It's also made a bit better this Gen since two of its worst nightmares in terms of lead matchups, Aero and Scarf Jirachi, are not as prevalent as they were in 5th and 4th Gen.
478.gif

Froslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam / Shadow Ball
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Destiny Bond

Definitely try this out though. It's a great lead, can spin-block its own hazards, and nets a free kill (or forces the opponent out, forcing them to take more hazard damage) with Destiny Bond. It's pretty predictable, but it works well with HO. The only problem is the Defog really screws suicide leads over, so you'll have to take that into account first.

And 'grats on the peak dude :] was that before or after the changes?
I definetely agree with these changes and ballon 'drill is amazing, but I think Deo-D would suit this team better than 'lass. You should try using Lum and see if it gets you better results than WP, which is pretty solid in the first place. Also, give 'rill sitrus berry over lefties and make sure it has and even hp stat. This way the sitrus will activate on the same turn you belly drum so you're back up to 75%.

-ApplepieFTW
 
Back
Top