https://pokepast.es/0c5f39841ef9ffe5
I'm about to take a long and potentially permanent break from 'mons, so I'd like to make this thread in honor of the team of mine that I believe best represents me. It's a stellar balance of being fun to use, complying with my teambuilding preferences, and being decently viable (...I think). The team's nicknames are inspired by one of my favorite albums, Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks.
Goodness (Raikou) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roar
- Substitute
This team originated from my desire to use this set as a lead, with the secondary goals of using 2 Electric 'mons with no overlapping Type weaknesses and different Hidden Powers + Low Kick Machamp. It can confidently Sub against a large portion of the lead metagame; most commonly Zapdos, Salamence, Skarmory, and Breloom. SubRoar leads are a blessing on the ladder (the last time that I played in a tour was a while before I made this team) considering Ninjask's (and to a lesser extent Smeargle's) usage: just pray that it's not MimePass, and if it is that they miss Hypnosis (ban that 'mon again PLEASE). It can also be useful in the later game; serving as a check to 'mons like Gengar and Suicune, phazing Jirachi, setting up Subs on Paralyzed 'mons, and cleaning up teams with its potent offensive stats and coverage. Cross your fingers that you don't phaze in Dugtrio with this thing, especially if you've proven that you're Modest. I've never tried Thunder on it, but that option just popped into my head and it sounds decent to me (but the inaccuracy and the possible redundancy of the otherwise more beneficial paralysis chance doesn't seem overall worth it).
Melon (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 40 SpA / 80 SpD / 32 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Thunder Wave
- Baton Pass
The EVs are for Jolly Aerodactyl, max SpAtk Swampert, and max Speed Tyranitar. Thunder Wave supports the slowness of the team pretty well; the particularly useful targets being Salamence, Jolteon, Gengar, Ludicolo, and Venusaur. Baton Pass is crucial for getting Dugtrio and Machamp in safely, and provides some other benefits too like punishing your opponent's Dugtrio. It's the team's best switch-in to quite a few notable mons; mainly Metagross, Swampert, Salamence, and Claydol. The relatively low SpAtk stat is partially made up for by Raikou, and it's still able to get some crucial OHKOs and 2HKOs by virtue of its typing (including Gyarados, Starmie, and Aerodactyl).
Little Twelvetoes (Dugtrio) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 80 HP / 208 Atk / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Beat Up
This 'mon makes the team not godawful, having enough HP to live a 252 Blissey Ice Beam. Unfortunately there's a decent chance that your opponent will get at least 1 layer of Spikes up by the time that you trap Blissey, and even if you manage to preserve your entire team and thus get all 6 hits of Beat Up before you get KOed Blissey will likely find an opportunity to heal, forcing you to switch into Machamp and Snorlax and take Spikes and Sand damage. Not to mention the occasional Ice Beam freezes/crits and successful uses of Sing, geez I really don't like Blissey. Dugtrio has the potential to get some other major KOs too, the most important one probably being Celebi (another 'mon that really annoys me). Whether of not Celebi has HPGrass/Giga Drain is one of this team's numerous cases of matchup-fishing, the worst ones being Tyranitar's Sand and the Sand-vulnerable pinch Berry 'mons who otherwise have a more difficult time setting up. This team's defensive backbone is generally strong enough to not be completely overwhelmed by Dugtrio punishes, so you can be fairly liberal with what and when you trap.
Pavement (Machamp) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Atk / 112 Def / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Low Kick
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
The "heat" of the team. Low Kick gives the team the extra counterplay against Snorlax that it needs, and has some others solid uses as well. Here are the Low Kick base powers of all of the ranked 'mons, for those of you who are curious:
HP Bug might be better for the team overall, but it feels silly to me to make a concession for a 'mon that is supposed to be trapped by a different 'mon on the same team. If Celebi never ran both HPGrass/Giga Drain and Psychic then I would definitely go for Bug, but that's obviously not world that we live in. The EV spread is to survive Tyranitar's Focus Punch followed by Earthquake. It has a habit of getting worn down quickly and being walled in the early game due to imperfect predictions, but it has its shining moments. Surprise Earthquake on Raikou/Jolteon/Jirachi/Blaziken and Low Kick on Hariyama, baiting a Will-O-Wisp from Gengar targeted for Snorlax, living a normally final blow with your physical bulk, and managing to preserve your HP in order to stop a DDTar, just to name a few.
Bill (Snorlax) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 80 HP / 180 Atk / 124 Def / 108 SpD / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Body Slam
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Punch
- Self-Destruct
My ol' reliable. I doubt that the balancing of the HP/Def/SpDef EVs is 100% optimal; I based it off of having the 16 x n + 1 HP stat strategy for Lefties 'mons (which kind of occurs naturally with the other 4 Lefties members of the team), a strategy that falls apart in Sand. The SpDef EV's are for Modest Kingdra Hydro Pump in Rain, and the Def ones are for Hariyama Cross Chop. It's essential for beating these threats to the rest of the team: Regice, Swift Swim users, Raikou, Jolteon, Porygon2, and Blissey and Celebi that Dugtrio couldn't KO for one reason or another. It appreciates the good matchups against Gengar and Protect or Sub users that other team members have, enabling it to boom with confidence.
Zero (Gengar) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 96 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch
- Giga Drain
- Will-O-Wisp
This is a pretty cool choice, having the coverage of both Electrics with Fire Punch over Thunderbolt. Just enough bulk to live +1 Salamence, just enough Speed to outspeed Medicham, and just enough SpAtk EVs to get that extra point from the Modest Nature. Useful for avoiding booms, checking Breloom + Venusaur + Dugtrio + Forretress + Flygon + Steelix + Donphan, baiting in PursuitTar for Machamp or Dugtrio, and switching into Skarmory Toxic. It might be my favorite mon in the ADV OU metagame, I love how unique it is and that love makes needing to prepare for it less bothersome. I really wish that I could fit Explosion on it though, maybe it could replace Wisp but that would be a similar situation to Machamp's HP Bug decision but applied to the special walls as a whole (although the momentum caused by Explosion is definitely a valuable secondary use).
I almost never save replays, and I decided to make this thread kind of spontaneously so I don't have any good ones that involve the team to share. However, it's probably not too hard to imagine how the team works based on the information given. I am interested to hear how other players would put their own spin on this team. This team was influenced by my gravitation towards certain mons and my repulsion of others, so I'm sure that it could be more optimal if built with a more objective perspective. I don't mind the poor matchups that it has against underdogs like Regice and Venusaur too much, considering my support for their usage. As for Tyranitar's Sand and Aerodactyl, well...
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