So I admit I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to competitive battling. Started towards the end of Gen V, and it was a very rough learning curve. I made this new team at the start of Gen VI, and while it had a lot of initial success while ranking up, after I crossed the 1600 threshold I've started having a LOT more trouble. Maybe it's technical, maybe it's the team. Hopefully I can have some help figuring out what my problems are.
The Team:
Sierra (Gengar) (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
- Toxic
- Sludge Bomb
Viki (Espeon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Toxic
- Morning Sun
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Softboiled
- Toxic
Wakaba (Lucario) (F) @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Crunch
- Close Combat
- Roar
Bright (Dragonite) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 200 SDef
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Thunder Wave
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
Klaus (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch
How I use it:
Forretress: My general set-up Pokemon. Get up Stealth Rock and Spikes and Rapid Spin to clear out opposing hazards and Volt Switch for easy switch-outs, as well as worst-case scenarios where it might be the only thing left. In a pinch, if I'm unsure what my opponent's doing I can use him to scout, as, by the time I have to scout, he's probably already done his job. I love Stealth Rocks and Spikes, and Rapid Spin’s in there for obvious reasons. Volt Switch is for either worst case scenarios or for scouting purposes. Not much to say about him. He’s a set-up/Rapid spinner, with a filler move for scouting, and not much else. Once Stealth Rock is on the field, he’s done his job, best he can do after that, is start laying down Spikes.
Espeon: My counter set-up Pokemon, and also found her to be reasonably effective at counter-stalls. Morning Sun and Magic Bounce make her fairly difficult for a lot of stall teams to deal with, while Toxic allows her to work with the general gist of stall teams. Psychic gives it something to do when there's nothing else for it to be doing, and Wish was a filler move. She’s my big Stall breaker, with Calm Mind—Calm Mind was actually a recent addition after I matched up against another Stall team and ended up losing because none of my remaining Pokemon could adequately bring down Skarmory. Added Calm Mind, essentially to turn Espeon into a sweeper against Stall teams. Throw her in against one of their set-up ‘mons, and start powering up with Calm Mind, and then start breaking face with Psychic. Otherwise, she’s just a Pokemon that I’m using for the broken Ability that is Magic Bounce.
Dragonite: Incredibly beefy, with Multiscale and Roost, very strong typing, and ultimately tends to serve me as a counter to Pokemon like Forretress or Ferrothorn, with Fire Punch. Dragon Claw is entirely there because I'm not a fan of Outrage and wanted a STAB move to help it fight other dragons. Thunder Wave, because it's a good fallback against Steel-types, or Magic Guard users, where Toxic would be ineffective. Essentially, Dragonite’s designed for big long slugging matches with anything that isn’t a stall team.
Chansey: More of a fan of Eviolite Chansey over Blissey, and just such a perfect stall Pokemon imho. Access to Softboiled and Aromatherapy makes killing it with anything less than a STAB'd Close Combat or Superpower unlikely, Seismic Toss gives it decent offensive abilities and Toxic because... well. I REALLY like Toxic. Chansey’s proven to be an MVP of this team time and time again. I’ve had games that I’ve outright swept with Chansey through killing an opposing team with Toxic, just because she’s so difficult to take down. I’ve found Chansey to be an invaluable “casual” switch-in against anything I feel is likely to use Special Attacks, like Greninja. Natural cure and her natural toughness makes her good at scouting. I find Chansey just ends up being a fill for just about any role the team needs, save for breaking the toughest of stall teams.
Gengar: One half of the sweepers on the team. Fast Special Sweeper (duh). Toxic to help it deal with Sucker Punch, Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb for STAB moves, and HP:Ice for dealing with things like Garchomp or Dragonite, which I otherwise have very few answers to. Ghost typing also tends to be fairly handy in combatting an opponent's rapid spinner, or predicting Fake Outs. Also use Gengar to combat Rapid Spinners after Forretress has set up.
Lucario: My Physical Sweeper. Its basically designed to work against all-around opposing Pokemon, with Roar being a recent addition to help me combat Baton pass teams, which I previously had no answers to. Otherwise just a physical beatstick that will have at LEAST neutral damage if not super-effective damage against most targets. I kinda wish it had access to Ice Punch, but as it stands he is usually guaranteed to bring down at least one Pokemon. Lucario IS admittedly one of my weaker ‘mons on the team, as I’ve never successfully pulled off a proper sweep with him. Best I usually get out of Lucario is eliminating or at least crippling an opposing sweeper and then Lucario gets taken down afterwards. So he’s a bit of a problem-child in that regard.
In practice, I tend to open with Dragonite or Forretress depending on my opponent's team, and my own predictions, switching in Espeon on my opponent's set-up Pokemon. Toxic is used to whittle the opposing team down, and Dragonite's Thunder Wave, ideally, will cripple any fast sweepers the opposing team employs. Use Pokemon like Espeon, Chansey and Dragonite with their healing moves to stall out and wear down the opposing team, until such a point I feel I can safely switch in Gengar or Lucario to sweep.
Some example games with this team (literally the last 6 games I played with it, minus games where my opponent or I forfeited within the first 10 rounds), comment at your leisure, if relevant:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73471020
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73138148
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73332029
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73346303
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73355615
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73465910
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The Team:
Sierra (Gengar) (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
- Toxic
- Sludge Bomb
Viki (Espeon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Toxic
- Morning Sun
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Softboiled
- Toxic
Wakaba (Lucario) (F) @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Crunch
- Close Combat
- Roar
Bright (Dragonite) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 200 SDef
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Thunder Wave
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
Klaus (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch
How I use it:
Forretress: My general set-up Pokemon. Get up Stealth Rock and Spikes and Rapid Spin to clear out opposing hazards and Volt Switch for easy switch-outs, as well as worst-case scenarios where it might be the only thing left. In a pinch, if I'm unsure what my opponent's doing I can use him to scout, as, by the time I have to scout, he's probably already done his job. I love Stealth Rocks and Spikes, and Rapid Spin’s in there for obvious reasons. Volt Switch is for either worst case scenarios or for scouting purposes. Not much to say about him. He’s a set-up/Rapid spinner, with a filler move for scouting, and not much else. Once Stealth Rock is on the field, he’s done his job, best he can do after that, is start laying down Spikes.
Espeon: My counter set-up Pokemon, and also found her to be reasonably effective at counter-stalls. Morning Sun and Magic Bounce make her fairly difficult for a lot of stall teams to deal with, while Toxic allows her to work with the general gist of stall teams. Psychic gives it something to do when there's nothing else for it to be doing, and Wish was a filler move. She’s my big Stall breaker, with Calm Mind—Calm Mind was actually a recent addition after I matched up against another Stall team and ended up losing because none of my remaining Pokemon could adequately bring down Skarmory. Added Calm Mind, essentially to turn Espeon into a sweeper against Stall teams. Throw her in against one of their set-up ‘mons, and start powering up with Calm Mind, and then start breaking face with Psychic. Otherwise, she’s just a Pokemon that I’m using for the broken Ability that is Magic Bounce.
Dragonite: Incredibly beefy, with Multiscale and Roost, very strong typing, and ultimately tends to serve me as a counter to Pokemon like Forretress or Ferrothorn, with Fire Punch. Dragon Claw is entirely there because I'm not a fan of Outrage and wanted a STAB move to help it fight other dragons. Thunder Wave, because it's a good fallback against Steel-types, or Magic Guard users, where Toxic would be ineffective. Essentially, Dragonite’s designed for big long slugging matches with anything that isn’t a stall team.
Chansey: More of a fan of Eviolite Chansey over Blissey, and just such a perfect stall Pokemon imho. Access to Softboiled and Aromatherapy makes killing it with anything less than a STAB'd Close Combat or Superpower unlikely, Seismic Toss gives it decent offensive abilities and Toxic because... well. I REALLY like Toxic. Chansey’s proven to be an MVP of this team time and time again. I’ve had games that I’ve outright swept with Chansey through killing an opposing team with Toxic, just because she’s so difficult to take down. I’ve found Chansey to be an invaluable “casual” switch-in against anything I feel is likely to use Special Attacks, like Greninja. Natural cure and her natural toughness makes her good at scouting. I find Chansey just ends up being a fill for just about any role the team needs, save for breaking the toughest of stall teams.
Gengar: One half of the sweepers on the team. Fast Special Sweeper (duh). Toxic to help it deal with Sucker Punch, Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb for STAB moves, and HP:Ice for dealing with things like Garchomp or Dragonite, which I otherwise have very few answers to. Ghost typing also tends to be fairly handy in combatting an opponent's rapid spinner, or predicting Fake Outs. Also use Gengar to combat Rapid Spinners after Forretress has set up.
Lucario: My Physical Sweeper. Its basically designed to work against all-around opposing Pokemon, with Roar being a recent addition to help me combat Baton pass teams, which I previously had no answers to. Otherwise just a physical beatstick that will have at LEAST neutral damage if not super-effective damage against most targets. I kinda wish it had access to Ice Punch, but as it stands he is usually guaranteed to bring down at least one Pokemon. Lucario IS admittedly one of my weaker ‘mons on the team, as I’ve never successfully pulled off a proper sweep with him. Best I usually get out of Lucario is eliminating or at least crippling an opposing sweeper and then Lucario gets taken down afterwards. So he’s a bit of a problem-child in that regard.
In practice, I tend to open with Dragonite or Forretress depending on my opponent's team, and my own predictions, switching in Espeon on my opponent's set-up Pokemon. Toxic is used to whittle the opposing team down, and Dragonite's Thunder Wave, ideally, will cripple any fast sweepers the opposing team employs. Use Pokemon like Espeon, Chansey and Dragonite with their healing moves to stall out and wear down the opposing team, until such a point I feel I can safely switch in Gengar or Lucario to sweep.
Some example games with this team (literally the last 6 games I played with it, minus games where my opponent or I forfeited within the first 10 rounds), comment at your leisure, if relevant:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73471020
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73138148
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73332029
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73346303
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73355615
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-73465910
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