Hello everyone. This is my first RMT so please bear with me.
This is the team I bred for the competition. I find it really stable, and although it's not the team I peaked higher in the ladder (I peaked at high 1400s, but I haven't had much time to play since uni started), I find it the most stable of all the ones I've done (and I've been said that it's a stable team too). But enough talking, let's get down to it:
Building process:
The high ladder got fully dominated by OHKO teams (and I feel like I contributed too much to that too). Which means that my teams were in desperate need of a way to stop them (aka Sturdy). There are two viable choices: Golem and Magneton. I didn't really like Golem because of that terrible Special Defence (which means that Articuno could still defeat it, specially behind a Sub). I also don't find it a great rocker due to how easy it is to lose momentum because of all the Slowbros and Machamps and stuff that counters it going around. Which means Magneton was going to be my OHKO counter. It also counters Clefable, something really important in this meta.
Well, after this, I had no problem deciding my two next Pokes. They've been in almost every team I've made, and this one is no exception. I saw someone refer to them as the King and Queen of Kanto Classic, and I couldn't agree more. Enter Snorlax and Clefable.
My Snorlax uses a set I've found the most effective on high ladder. It is my answer to stall, using Fissure to KO those annoying Slowbros and such. It also loves to OHKO Machamps on the switch, and I always smile when that happens. Clefable is more of a supporter, using Heal Bell to cure status, and is also my rocker.
So, after this, I needed an answer to physically offensive mons. I also needed a status spreader, namely Thunder Wave, so useful to cripple the set up sweepers for the rest of the match. I didn't take long to pick it, since it has also accompanied me for several teams already. Enter Slowbro.
Now I wanted a Pokémon for sponging special hits, should Snorlax fall. I also find a sleeper really important in this meta, and it works really well against stall teams. Those pokes that are not offensively oriented usually get put to sleep. So, I picked the best sleeper in this meta hands down, Venusaur.
Okay, so we now have an answer to stall, to OHKO teams, to Clefable, the bulk of our team allows us to defeat offensive teams, and we have 2 Pokémon capable of being win conditions consistently, and specially good at killing the opponent's win conditions (Snorlax and Venusaur). However, we still don't have a Snorlax counter. So, why not getting the best Snorlax counter in the meta? Enter Machamp.
The set I use ended up being a shameless copy of a user I ran into in the ladder (I'll try to see who it was after I post this), but it was not intentional. This one used to be a RestTalk Guts Machamp, the RestTalk idea having been taken from that user. I used it as a status absorber and definite counter to Snorlax (since Fissure is no longer 100% accurate). However, it didn't prove quite useful, since I wasn't really taking advantage of Guts, so I switched to a No Guard set, which seems overall more useful (and is also a shameless copy of that user's set).
So, off to the team now:
Team
Snorlax
Ability: Thick Fat
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 244 SpD / 28 Spe EVs: 44 HP / 68 Atk / 140 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Fissure
- Crunch
As I previously said, this Snorlax is used since my OHKO days, and has never let me down.The speed used is to outspeed the people trying to outspeed the ones trying to outspeed the ones trying to... well, you probably got it by now. I use this in all my Pokémon, and will probably EV it to 20 to the competition, since 28 Speed will probably be a little bit of an overkill. Only my Venusaur and Clefable are speed creeping right now. I'm no longer the king of speed creep :( But off to the set: this is a specially defencive set, used to sponge hits from pretty much any special wall except strong Psyshock users. However, Alakazam has a good chance of being is OHKO'd by Crunch, and Starmie/Gengar gets 2HKO'd by it. The reason Crunch is run over Body Slam is exactly to defeat Gengar and those Psychic types, who really annoy the rest of my team. Fissure is also a win condition of this team, since Snorlax is so fat it can sit in front of it's opponents all day until it hits it, specially with Rest and Sleep Talk.
Magneton
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe EVs: 124 HP / 252 SpA / 132 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
-Volt Switch Discharge
- Flash Cannon
- Sleep Talk
Magneton is my answer to OHKO teams, as previously said.I find it unnecessary to run a lot of speed EVs on Magneton and prefer to capitalize on bulk The given Speed allows Magneton to outspeed all Golem variants and Machamps that are copied from the Smogon analysis page. Sp. Attack is maximized, and the rest is dumped in HP for some bulk in order to tank the hits of OHKO mons better. Like with all my mons that don't run physical moves, I run 0 IV's in attack in order to minimize confuse damage, and in the really rare event of a pokémon with Power Split or something like that. It is also one of my answers to Clefable (the other being Venusaur). RestTalk is completely necessary to effectively defeat OHKO teams, since without it Magneton ends up dying eventually to a burn from Scald or a crit or something like that. Volt switch is a way to maintain momentum (as much as I'd love to have a chance to OHKO Slowbro, it's much more important to have a way to maintain momentum that using Thunderbolt, but if you have another reason/s to convice me that Thunderbolt is better than Volt Switch, please feel free to say so) Momentum is good, but this team is fat so it doesn't suffer much from losing it. On the other hand, there are some stuff that my team would like to see paralyzed, and since I don't have Body Slam in Snorlax, another move with that 30% chance is nice, so Discharge is preferred over Volt Switch. If you use this team, or this set with a Sleep spreader, always assess if the Pokémon is better paralyzed or asleep and Flash Cannon is the Clefable killer.
Clefable
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 236 Def / 28 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonlight
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Heal Bell
Well, here is the Queen of Kanto Classic. 28 Speed EVs as usual, a support Pokémon with Heal Bell, which helps a lot with all the Resters in this team. It is also my rocker, since it tends to force so many switches it ends up being probably the best rocker of the meta. The rest of the moves are no-brainers. It is my main answer to setup sweepers, although I always paralyze Dragonite first with Slowbro to guarantee that I don't get flinched to death with Iron Head.
Slowbro
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 236 Def / 28 Spe 244 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpA / 180 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
- Psyshock
- Scald
Slowbro is a physical wall, and a damn good one.It laughs on Cloyster's face, taking no damage from its attacks With the new spread, Rock Blast 2HKOs after a Shell Smash. This forces me to rely more on Clefable and Magneton to counter it, but Slowbro can still check it through paralysis. It also 2HKOs with Scald after a Shell Smash (yes, 2HKO'ing with a resisted move). It's my paralysis spreader, and also comes in on Dragonite easily to paralyze it, even if it Outrages (which is dumb with a Clefable around but I've seen too many people do that). That Regenerator is the best thing that happened to Slowbro, and I rely on Slowbro a lot for Scald burns on physical attackers too. Psyshock is coverage and really useful against lots of stuff, like Gengar (in fact, I thought about putting some EV's in SpA and SpD to guarantee a live with a less health Shadow Ball and OHKO it with Psyshock. Please comment on that if you wish). I love Slowbro, I really do.
The EV Spread was changed to a shameless copy of Vengeance417's set. You can see the RMT where he posts it here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/kanto-classic-the-very-first-pokemon.3564980/
Here are his words on the set:
Venusaur
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 244 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Sludge Bomb
I also love this thing. Sleep Powder is insanely good, specially against all the fat, slow mons that are used in stall teams in high ladder. Substitute is much better than a second coverage move, as it allows Venusaur to put more stuff to sleep, ease prediction, and absolutely crucial to Leech Seed things to death (yeah, I'm one of those guys). It also sponges surprinsingly well Special hits, and I rely on it a lot to do so. But its main use is to kill win conditions with Leech Seed and Sleep Powder. Sludge Bomb is prefered over Giga Drain as another way to kill Clefable. I used Giga Drain, but I found Sludge Bomb more useful overall, although Venusaur dies more to it. Comment on that too please :P Clorophyll is generally useless, but definitely more useful that Overgrow, and hey, you never know when you can find a sun team and use their weapon against themselves :P
Machamp
Ability: No Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Atk / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dynamic Punch
- Stone Edge
Machamp is the Snorlax killer. It does a great job at confusing stuff. Stone Edge is used to hit Gengar and Alakazam hard on the switch, but I've considered Bullet Punch for revenge killing and as another Clefable killing move (specially with Dynamic Punch confusion). But I think Stone Edge is more useful. RestTalk is used to be sure we are around until the opponent's Snorlax dies, and Machamp is overall useful so a good mon to keep around. Shame Slowbro counters it, otherwhise it would be easily one of the best mons of Kanto Classic.
Threats
NOTE: You might think before reading this that my team can't handle the biggest threats and is therefore weak, but in most cases it only struggles against some specific sets on some of them, or if one key mon is dead. So don't make conclusions too quick :P
Gengar
: This thing doesn't get OHKO'd by Crunch, WoW/Taunt variants shut down Venusaur, Shadow Ball almost OHKO's Slowbro, does huge damage to Magneton (how much I miss you Ghost resist...), takes zero damage from Dynamicpunch, doesn't get hit by Fissure... It's just too annoying and my number one threat to take down. I made my Snorlax specially defencive just to take this thing better, since it used to be invested in both defences.
Alakazam
: We need Snorlax healthy to kill this thing, we are not guaranteed to kill it, and Psyshock variants are annoying as hell for Snorlax. It can get put to sleep if I predict a switch to it and use Substitute or Sleep Powder with Venusaur, but Venusaur (without the doll up), Slowbro, Magneton, Machamp get rekt by it. Substitute variants are specially annoying. It is not as much of a problem as Gengar at all, but it turns into a big one if Snorlax is fainted.
Clefable
: This thing is only a problem if it carries Minimize. Otherwise gets rekt by Venusaur and Magneton. Minimize Clefable is hands down the biggest problem for this team, and can 6-0 if I get unlucky in the turns it sets up. However, I don't worry much with it since no one uses Minimize in the high ladder. On the cartdrige however, I'm not so sure of that, and I mostly put it here because of that.
Golem
/ Magneton
: Being Fissure one of my ways to kill annoying stuff and a win condition, these two are annoying as hell. If they are both on the opponent's team, I will have trouble with them. I never, ever show Fissure to the opponent if one of these is still alive, and I went 200 turns without using it in a battle, waiting for my opponent to ditch Magneton, because I knew Fissure was my only win condition. Golem is now rekt by my Magneton, unless it's at full health. It is still annoying, though.
Okay, thanks for bearing with me. I eagerly await for your comments :P
This is the team I bred for the competition. I find it really stable, and although it's not the team I peaked higher in the ladder (I peaked at high 1400s, but I haven't had much time to play since uni started), I find it the most stable of all the ones I've done (and I've been said that it's a stable team too). But enough talking, let's get down to it:
Building process:
The high ladder got fully dominated by OHKO teams (and I feel like I contributed too much to that too). Which means that my teams were in desperate need of a way to stop them (aka Sturdy). There are two viable choices: Golem and Magneton. I didn't really like Golem because of that terrible Special Defence (which means that Articuno could still defeat it, specially behind a Sub). I also don't find it a great rocker due to how easy it is to lose momentum because of all the Slowbros and Machamps and stuff that counters it going around. Which means Magneton was going to be my OHKO counter. It also counters Clefable, something really important in this meta.

Well, after this, I had no problem deciding my two next Pokes. They've been in almost every team I've made, and this one is no exception. I saw someone refer to them as the King and Queen of Kanto Classic, and I couldn't agree more. Enter Snorlax and Clefable.



My Snorlax uses a set I've found the most effective on high ladder. It is my answer to stall, using Fissure to KO those annoying Slowbros and such. It also loves to OHKO Machamps on the switch, and I always smile when that happens. Clefable is more of a supporter, using Heal Bell to cure status, and is also my rocker.
So, after this, I needed an answer to physically offensive mons. I also needed a status spreader, namely Thunder Wave, so useful to cripple the set up sweepers for the rest of the match. I didn't take long to pick it, since it has also accompanied me for several teams already. Enter Slowbro.




Now I wanted a Pokémon for sponging special hits, should Snorlax fall. I also find a sleeper really important in this meta, and it works really well against stall teams. Those pokes that are not offensively oriented usually get put to sleep. So, I picked the best sleeper in this meta hands down, Venusaur.





Okay, so we now have an answer to stall, to OHKO teams, to Clefable, the bulk of our team allows us to defeat offensive teams, and we have 2 Pokémon capable of being win conditions consistently, and specially good at killing the opponent's win conditions (Snorlax and Venusaur). However, we still don't have a Snorlax counter. So, why not getting the best Snorlax counter in the meta? Enter Machamp.






The set I use ended up being a shameless copy of a user I ran into in the ladder (I'll try to see who it was after I post this), but it was not intentional. This one used to be a RestTalk Guts Machamp, the RestTalk idea having been taken from that user. I used it as a status absorber and definite counter to Snorlax (since Fissure is no longer 100% accurate). However, it didn't prove quite useful, since I wasn't really taking advantage of Guts, so I switched to a No Guard set, which seems overall more useful (and is also a shameless copy of that user's set).
So, off to the team now:
Team
Snorlax

Ability: Thick Fat
Level: 50
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Fissure
- Crunch
As I previously said, this Snorlax is used since my OHKO days, and has never let me down.
Magneton

Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
-
- Flash Cannon
- Sleep Talk
Magneton is my answer to OHKO teams, as previously said.
Clefable

Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 236 Def / 28 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonlight
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Heal Bell
Well, here is the Queen of Kanto Classic. 28 Speed EVs as usual, a support Pokémon with Heal Bell, which helps a lot with all the Resters in this team. It is also my rocker, since it tends to force so many switches it ends up being probably the best rocker of the meta. The rest of the moves are no-brainers. It is my main answer to setup sweepers, although I always paralyze Dragonite first with Slowbro to guarantee that I don't get flinched to death with Iron Head.
Slowbro

Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
IVs: 0 Atk
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
- Psyshock
- Scald
Slowbro is a physical wall, and a damn good one.
The EV Spread was changed to a shameless copy of Vengeance417's set. You can see the RMT where he posts it here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/kanto-classic-the-very-first-pokemon.3564980/
Here are his words on the set:
You're probably looking at this Slowbro set with a face akin to "o_O". I can explain, lol
This is a set I created for Slowbro that I believe can handle a much wider portion of the metagame than the standard physically defensive spread can. The special bulk itself is supposed to turn Alakazam's Shadow Ball in to a 3HKO vs this set, which allows me to get off a Thunder Wave while still standing with a decent amount of health. This also allows me to tank a Shadow Ball from Gengar way better and OHKO back with a Psyshock leaving me with more health to Regenerate after switching out.
Scald and Psyshock are your standard dual STAB combo that hits a wide portion of the meta for super effective damage, while Slack Off gives me reliable recovery. Thunder Wave cripples fast Pokemon and set up sweepers, taking them out of commission unless they have a Heal Bell user.
Venusaur

Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 244 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Sludge Bomb
I also love this thing. Sleep Powder is insanely good, specially against all the fat, slow mons that are used in stall teams in high ladder. Substitute is much better than a second coverage move, as it allows Venusaur to put more stuff to sleep, ease prediction, and absolutely crucial to Leech Seed things to death (yeah, I'm one of those guys). It also sponges surprinsingly well Special hits, and I rely on it a lot to do so. But its main use is to kill win conditions with Leech Seed and Sleep Powder. Sludge Bomb is prefered over Giga Drain as another way to kill Clefable. I used Giga Drain, but I found Sludge Bomb more useful overall, although Venusaur dies more to it. Comment on that too please :P Clorophyll is generally useless, but definitely more useful that Overgrow, and hey, you never know when you can find a sun team and use their weapon against themselves :P
Machamp

Ability: No Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Atk / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dynamic Punch
- Stone Edge
Machamp is the Snorlax killer. It does a great job at confusing stuff. Stone Edge is used to hit Gengar and Alakazam hard on the switch, but I've considered Bullet Punch for revenge killing and as another Clefable killing move (specially with Dynamic Punch confusion). But I think Stone Edge is more useful. RestTalk is used to be sure we are around until the opponent's Snorlax dies, and Machamp is overall useful so a good mon to keep around. Shame Slowbro counters it, otherwhise it would be easily one of the best mons of Kanto Classic.
Threats
NOTE: You might think before reading this that my team can't handle the biggest threats and is therefore weak, but in most cases it only struggles against some specific sets on some of them, or if one key mon is dead. So don't make conclusions too quick :P
Gengar

Alakazam

Clefable



Okay, thanks for bearing with me. I eagerly await for your comments :P
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