Dual-Core [OU Balanced Offense Team with Charizard-X!]

Triskadancer

Triskadancer

Introduction​
Hi there Smogon, this is my first foray into X/Y competitive. I made a team way back in 4th gen and did alright locally and online with it thanks to your help, and I'm hoping this time around is just as helpful!

I've always enjoyed playing with a FWG core, but it occurred to me that there's a new trio in Dragon-Steel-Fairy that also works, and I thought... well, why not use both? It certainly makes for a team that FEELS solid, at least! This was my attempt to use Pokemon that were not only good competitively and fit the team, but also Pokemon I personally love as well. So far it's been working out okay, but I feel like I'm missing... something. It could be better, I bet, and I'd love some input.
Changes now listed in pink!​


At A Glance
charizard-megax.gif
breloom.gif
azumarill.gif
excadrill.gif
mandibuzz.gif
gengar.gif

​

In-Depth Look​
charizard-megax.gif

Xerxes (Charizard) (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze / Tough Claws
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz
- Thunder Punch

My main man, my physical sweeper, the one and only Charizard-X! In addition to being one of my favorites and a partner of mine since LeafGreen, this bad boy got a new lease on life by becoming a unique Fire/Dragon that nets him a handy WoW immunity. Obviously Dragon Dance is there to boost his Speed and Attack, which lets him outspeed and KO a lot more threats than he otherwise would! Dragon Claw is his standby STAB- I don't enjoy being locked into Outrage unless I'm running a Choice Band, and I'm not. Flare Blitz for my Fire type needs, recoil damage be damned. I chose Thunder Punch over Earthquake primarily because I enjoy the 75% chance to OHKO Azumarill (which is normally a big threat for Chari-X) and because it benefits from Tough Claws. He fulfills the Fire and Dragon parts of my dual-core strategy, and does it beautifully.

breloom.gif

Velo (Breloom) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance Rock Tomb

I've loved Breloom ever since his introduction in Gen3, and he was on my last successful team (as a Toxic Orb Sub-Puncher), so I couldn't help but try and work him in here too. I specifically went Jolly over Adamant to make sure I could Spore as much as possible without being outsped. Once I get a Sleep, I can Swords Dance for free no matter what, and then SOMETHING is getting hurt! Mach Punch and Bullet Seed are standard for Tech Breloom, and I couldn't possibly think of anything better to give him for STABs. I couldn't ask for a better Grass in my FWG core.
azumarill.gif

Toulouse (Azumarill) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
- Ice Punch Waterfall

Another Pokemon that pulls dual duty as both Water and Fairy parts of my cores, Azumarill's another old favorite that got a brand new coat of paint this gen, and I was eager to try him out. I chose Choice Band over Belly Drum because I planned to be switching a lot thanks to this dual-core idea, so I'd lose the +6 boost. Choice-Banded Adamnt Play Rough ends up hitting plenty hard anyway! Superpower is standard, Aqua Jet is standard and excellent priority. Ice Punch is for coverage, I couldn't think of anything else to put there and it's worked out all right. Completely open to suggestions here.

excadrill.gif

Simon (Excadrill) (M) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock

Though not totally necessary, Stealth Rocks is still really useful and I wanted the option on my team. I also needed a Steel type for the final part of the Dragon-Fairy-Steel core. I figured this little mole was as good as any to try out. I thought it'd be fun to run an offensive set, so I get free Swords Dances often when people switch to their spinblocker (paired with Charizard, you'd assume he was a spinner too, right?). Earthquake is as reliable as always, and I picked up Iron Head in case of troublesome Fairies.

mandibuzz.gif

Mandy (Mandibuzz) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef
Impish Nature
- Foul Play
- Taunt
- Defog
- Roost

I figured with Charizard I needed to make sure I had a Defogger or Spinner, and since poor Excadrill was already doing so much, I went for this bird beauty. Though I don't like how she slows down my momentum, she certainly pulls her weight by making sure hazards don't get ridiculous and slapping around any unwary physical attackers with Foul Play (haha, Fowl Play?). I'm open to suggestions on changing her up, even if she's saved my bacon a few times.

gengar.gif

Nora (Gengar) (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave Sludge Bomb
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt

This pretty ghost girl was my last addition, mostly because I was worried my team was a little on the slow side. I wanted to make sure I had a reliable revenge killer of some kind, and the first one that shot to mind was Gengar, considering its new Poison power against Fairies. Plenty of useful immunities as well! I went with Black Sludge since I'm trying to obey the Item Clause, plus it's fun when unsuspecting Trick users end up grabbing it. Just a bunch of coverage moves so I can do what I can to revenge-- though I'm not fond of Focus Miss, it seems too decent to replace.


So that's it! I hope the RMT has been fun to read, at least. Thank you for your time, and please leave commentary if you can!
 
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Try swapping swords dance on breloom for rock tomb. Even Jolly you really aren't fast enough to take advantage of the boost without relying entirely on mach punch. Rock tomb hits his counters hard, and it slows down whatever comes in which can get you a 2HKO on things you normally can't.
 
The main problem I see with the team is its lack of speed. Seeing as how Gengar is your fastest member, you can pretty much get outrun by an Scarfer in the Metagame. Furthermore, there are plently of powerful Pokemon who sit above Gengars Speed Tier without a scarf, and you only have Aqua Jet and Mach Punch to hopefully stop them.

You also lack any real lead, like something that can scout and gain momentum for you. I suggest putting a Focus Sash on Breloom over Life Orb, so he can serve as a pretty good lead whose guaranteed nearly 99% of the time to put something to sleep.
 
nkhlshnd99 said:
Run roost on Charizard. It increases his longevity.
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I'll consider reslotting ThunderPunch! I really like the coverage, but being able to heal would be cool too.

Wise Walrus said:
Try swapping swords dance on breloom for rock tomb. Even Jolly you really aren't fast enough to take advantage of the boost without relying entirely on mach punch. Rock tomb hits his counters hard, and it slows down whatever comes in which can get you a 2HKO on things you normally can't.
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This is a neat idea! I didn't realize he had it, and the slow is super useful. Thank you!

Echronus said:
Swap sludge wave for sludge bomb it's not much of a damage drop and adds 3x more chance to poison.
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Can do. Easy fix, thanks!

aPandaCub said:
The main problem I see with the team is its lack of speed. Seeing as how Gengar is your fastest member, you can pretty much get outrun by an Scarfer in the Metagame. Furthermore, there are plently of powerful Pokemon who sit above Gengars Speed Tier without a scarf, and you only have Aqua Jet and Mach Punch to hopefully stop them.

You also lack any real lead, like something that can scout and gain momentum for you. I suggest putting a Focus Sash on Breloom over Life Orb, so he can serve as a pretty good lead whose guaranteed nearly 99% of the time to put something to sleep.
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I totally agree. That's a reasonable idea, I'll totally run the Sash. If you have any suggestions for full-on Pokemon replacements I'll consider them too- I like the team how it is but I'm not adverse to running different monsters if they'd do better.

Thank you all very much for the suggestions so far!
 
I have tried out Adamant vs. Jolly Charizard for about a month now, and I can easily say Adamant wins. I cannot get 1HKOs with Jolly i would have loved with Adamant. Even though it is in the 100 speed range it uses DD. Your main worry is going to be scarfed base 100s, but you don't want to be guessing during a speed tie like that anyway. I really despise it when my opponent barely lives with 1-20 Hp.
 
AkajiFlare said:
I have tried out Adamant vs. Jolly Charizard for about a month now, and I can easily say Adamant wins. I cannot get 1HKOs with Jolly i would have loved with Adamant. Even though it is in the 100 speed range it uses DD. Your main worry is going to be scarfed base 100s, but you don't want to be guessing during a speed tie like that anyway. I really despise it when my opponent barely lives with 1-20 Hp.
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Tbh I kind of agree. I ran a bulkier variant that was jolly but with only 264 speed (used bulky gyara as a base), and I never really had problems. You should be coming in on something you can DD on anyways so it won't generally matter, and if your gonna run 252 spe/atk you probably are better off with the extra damage output.
 
Just remember that you need the turn to DD for adamant to be worth it. You should also probably figure out what speed tier out speeds you with 252+. I would guess somewhere around Landorus-t area which could be pretty important.

Edit: Also just noticed this but put the 4 evs he has in hp into either defense, and take 4 out of mandibuzz hp and put them somewhere else as well. Honestly makes no difference bulk-wise but it'll let you take 24/49% when coming into stealth rock rather than 25/50 so you can switch more freely.
 
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As what's-his-name said, move 4 HP EV to SPDef.

Also, why are there 4 Atk EV on Mandibuzz? They serve no purpose--Foul Play uses your opponent's attacking stat, not yours. Move them to SpDef.
 
I would replace ice punch with waterfall on Azumarill because it an incredibly hard hitting STAB and the only reason to have ice punch is for the 4x weak Mons who will also be weak to waterfall, aqua jet, and play rough. As far as ice punch's grass coverage goes it would only be more useful for trevenant, but STAB play rough does about the same.
 
SmokingBomber465 said:
As what's-his-name said, move 4 HP EV to SPDef.

Also, why are there 4 Atk EV on Mandibuzz? They serve no purpose--Foul Play uses your opponent's attacking stat, not yours. Move them to SpDef.
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I honestly have no idea. It's probably just what Showdown autofilled and I didn't notice. I'll move them immediately. Thanks for the catch!

m95408 said:
One recommendation is that since you have dance on Excadrill, you should replace SD with Rock Tomb on Breloom.
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Yep, already adjusted due to an earlier suggestion. Thanks!

Celeberty said:
I would replace ice punch with waterfall on Azumarill because it an incredibly hard hitting STAB and the only reason to have ice punch is for the 4x weak Mons who will also be weak to waterfall, aqua jet, and play rough. As far as ice punch's grass coverage goes it would only be more useful for trevenant, but STAB play rough does about the same.
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Alright! That's a good point, I'll swap that to Waterfall. Thank you!
 
You don't have to change this, but keep in mind that, besides Charizard X, you're gonna have a hard time with Chesnaught thanks to its Bulletproof ability. Just keep in mind that Gengar has a lot of trouble if it runs Sludge Bomb instead of Sludge Wave, because Bulletproof blocks Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, and Sludge Bomb, not to mention resisting Thunderbolt. You don't have to change that if you don't want to, since you have Charizard X and all, but again, keep it in mind.

EDIT: And I said "Keep it in mind" a lot. Weird.
 
Jexulus said:
You don't have to change this, but keep in mind that, besides Charizard X, you're gonna have a hard time with Chesnaught thanks to its Bulletproof ability. Just keep in mind that Gengar has a lot of trouble if it runs Sludge Bomb instead of Sludge Wave, because Bulletproof blocks Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, and Sludge Bomb, not to mention resisting Thunderbolt. You don't have to change that if you don't want to, since you have Charizard X and all, but again, keep it in mind.

EDIT: And I said "Keep it in mind" a lot. Weird.
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Huh, that's a good point. I don't see Chesnaught often but I'll definitely keep it in mind. :P Thank you for the heads up, I appreciate it.
 
Here are my suggestions:
Charizard
Mega Charizard X is damn good. However, there are three types of sets that Charizard runs.
1) The 2-attack bulky tank (Dragon Dance, Roost, Dragon Claw, Flare Blitz). This one maxes out HP and Defense to provide the maximum number of Dragon Dances possible, and heals the damage off with Roost. Dragon Claw and Flare Blitz provide optimal 2-move neutral coverage.
2) The offensive 3-move Dragon Dance sweeper (Dragon Dance, Flare Blitz, Thunder Punch, Earthquake). This is the best possible 3-move coverage for Charizard, and the Dragon-stab is really not missed anymore, with only 1 SE cover, 1 resist, and 1 immunity. Max out speed and attack on this one.
3) The Mega Bellyzard X (Belly Drum, Flame Charge, Thunder Punch, Earthquake). This sounds idiotic, and it is in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it. Get it to work, and it's a given sweep. Make out attack and speed, Belly Drum on a slower enemy, and OHKO it with Flame Charge to wreck with a +6/+1 monster.

Your current set is most similar to the 2nd, but I'd suggest sticking to one of the 3 listed.

Breloom
Fine as is.

Azumarill
Depending on how you use Azumarill (i.e. late-game sweeper vs. early-game wallbreaker), consider Bounce over Superpower. In a late-game setting, the stat reduction will cripple Azumarill, and the predictability of Bounce doesn't matter. Bounce also has better coverage.

Excadrill
I'd suggest a bulky sweeper EV spread to give more chances to setup with Swords Dance and Stealth Rock. What's the point of a frail setter? This generation really favors bulky boosting sweepers.

Mandibuzz
May I suggest replacing this with Gliscor (Defog, Substitute, Toxic, Protect)? Gliscor is quite possibly the most annoying Pokemon to deal with, and pretty much the only things can beat this set are 'mons that can OHKO with Ice Beam or Steel-types that can't be poisoned.

Gengar
Assuming that you're still using Gengar as a revenge killer, I'd recommend Choice Scarf given the base 150s and base 130s. It still adheres to Item Clause, and Trick users still get screwed over by it.

Those are all of the recommendations that I have. I'd also appreciate it if you took a quick look at my RMT:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/the-underdogs.3499998/#post-5239799

I hope this helps!
 
GreekPantheon said:
Here are my suggestions:
Charizard
Mega Charizard X is damn good. However, there are three types of sets that Charizard runs.
1) The 2-attack bulky tank (Dragon Dance, Roost, Dragon Claw, Flare Blitz). This one maxes out HP and Defense to provide the maximum number of Dragon Dances possible, and heals the damage off with Roost. Dragon Claw and Flare Blitz provide optimal 2-move neutral coverage.
2) The offensive 3-move Dragon Dance sweeper (Dragon Dance, Flare Blitz, Thunder Punch, Earthquake). This is the best possible 3-move coverage for Charizard, and the Dragon-stab is really not missed anymore, with only 1 SE cover, 1 resist, and 1 immunity. Max out speed and attack on this one.
3) The Mega Bellyzard X (Belly Drum, Flame Charge, Thunder Punch, Earthquake). This sounds idiotic, and it is in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it. Get it to work, and it's a given sweep. Make out attack and speed, Belly Drum on a slower enemy, and OHKO it with Flame Charge to wreck with a +6/+1 monster.

Your current set is most similar to the 2nd, but I'd suggest sticking to one of the 3 listed.

Breloom
Fine as is.

Azumarill
Depending on how you use Azumarill (i.e. late-game sweeper vs. early-game wallbreaker), consider Bounce over Superpower. In a late-game setting, the stat reduction will cripple Azumarill, and the predictability of Bounce doesn't matter. Bounce also has better coverage.

Excadrill
I'd suggest a bulky sweeper EV spread to give more chances to setup with Swords Dance and Stealth Rock. What's the point of a frail setter? This generation really favors bulky boosting sweepers.

Mandibuzz
May I suggest replacing this with Gliscor (Defog, Substitute, Toxic, Protect)? Gliscor is quite possibly the most annoying Pokemon to deal with, and pretty much the only things can beat this set are 'mons that can OHKO with Ice Beam or Steel-types that can't be poisoned.

Gengar
Assuming that you're still using Gengar as a revenge killer, I'd recommend Choice Scarf given the base 150s and base 130s. It still adheres to Item Clause, and Trick users still get screwed over by it.

Those are all of the recommendations that I have. I'd also appreciate it if you took a quick look at my RMT:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/the-underdogs.3499998/#post-5239799

I hope this helps!
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Thank you so much for the in-depth look! I'll definitely take a lot of these suggestions into consideration, and I'll definitely take a look at your team!
 
Interesting team, however, I'd keep Sludge Wave over Sludge bomb on Gengar. Or else, barring CHarX or Azu (barely), you are completely walled by HA Chesnaught friend ]: Also, Sludge Wave has more power, it'll actually HIT chesnaught, and having to rely on 30% poison hax isn't worth it. Hopefully that helps [:
 
Scarf Gengar should be used with Trick>Thunderbolt to cripple Blissey/Chansey/water types you would use TBolt on. It boosts up the general speed of this team, and revenge kills. Also, how do you deal with Talonflame usually?
 
Kingpoleon said:
Scarf Gengar should be used with Trick>Thunderbolt to cripple Blissey/Chansey/water types you would use TBolt on. It boosts up the general speed of this team, and revenge kills. Also, how do you deal with Talonflame usually?
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Sounds fine! I'll grab him a scarf. And generally I can dent Talonflame enough that I can then take it out with Aqua Jet, but it's a pain in the ass regardless. I just... really dislike Rotom-W conceptually, I got into this game to train monsters, not wrangle washing machines. :P So... I haven't been using the ideal counter for him.
 
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