Hello friends, my name is Æthereal Reaper, and this is my first RMT. I've been playing Pokemon since Gen 1, but stopped with Diamond and Pearl after my DS broke. I've been playing on showdown all of 3 weeks in an attempt to learn the new Gens, and I feel like I'm finally ready to share my team, and hopefully have it improved by this awesome community!
P.S.: Sorry for the whole peaked at 1337 thing, I figured it would grab people's attention, but I am telling the truth, I even have screenshot to prove it:
Reaper (Absol) (M) @ Absolite
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Snatch
- Protect
- Fire Blast
Alright, so I knew whatever team I made would have Absol on it. He has long been my favorite pokemon in existence due to his cool looks, and really cool lore. To my suprise, he had a Mega Evolution, and it makes him an extremely powerful Anti-Lead. The Mega-Evolution gives him bounce, which is a great way to ruin first turn hazard sets, and many pokemon who will attempt to open up with disabilities like spore/thunderwave, and then try to buff and baton-pass. Speaking of buffing, Snatch has got to be one my favorite moves in this game. It can be really frustrating for the enemy to deal with, and I have swept before with a buffed Mega Absol spamming Sucker Punch. Protect just seemed like common sense since better players know what Mega Absol does, and I threw in Fireblast to bait popular openers Like Ferrothorn, Trevenant, and Forretress. Plus it just seems people never expect Absol to know a fire move.
Maokai (Trevenant) (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 132 SDef
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Curse
- Will-O-Wisp
Let me just say how much I love this guy. He alone has earned me plenty of ragequit with this setup. I decided to go with a split in terms of Defenses on this guy, mostly due to my inexperience of how people would attempt to respond to this. Every part of his moveset is incredibly frustrating to deal with. If you can set this guy up behind a sub, the fun shall begin. Lucky for us, Leech Seed, Curse, and Will-o-Wisp all stack, so you can have all 3 down at the same time. Thanks to sitrus berry, you can pull this combo off multiple times over provided you get lucky with your Harvesting. He is a wallbreaking wall, what's not to love?
Zeus (Thundurus) (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
With a name like Æthereal (celestial or heavenly) I needed something to fit the theme (seeing as Absol already filled the "Black Reaper" Role. Enter Thundurus, or Zeus, if you will. He's my main special sweeper, and he has a semi-versatile moveset to deal with the fact that he is choiced. Volt-switch seemed pretty mandatory because I'm choiced, and the fact that it's pretty good as a STAB. The last 3 moves just covered glaring weaknesses my team had no way to cover (dragon hunting and what not).
Nami (Azumarill) (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
At this point, I was looking to throw a Fairy in the team because of the amazing type coverage they bring. I quickly decided on Azumarill after getting swept by them on my first week of playing. I originally ran the belly drum setup, but ended up disliking it after trying it. Then a friend pointed me in the direction of Avos5, and his Azumarill setup. Assualt Vest covers most of the more common moves that would be super-effective against it. Brick Break and Play Rough added even more type coverage to the team, and plus Brick Break comes in handy when you bump into the Klefki Dual Screen team. Aqua Jet was a no-brainer, who doesn't love Priority on a sweeper? Waterfall I chose because it is, like Aqua Jet, a STAB, and it hits harder when you know you are faster, or take a hit.
Stryx (Deoxys-Defense) @ Red Card
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Seismic Toss
I went with Deoxys-D as my hazard setter, and am still testing himw ith this team, but he's done a good job thus far. I've been told that for any sort of offensive team, he is the best hazard setter, so i wnet with it. I'm still not entirely sure I even need a Hazard setter, and I've been tempted to replace him with something more wally, like Chancey, Blissy, or Gliscor. Enough complaining, on to why I like him. Stealth Rock and Spikes, classic hazard setting, no complaint there. Taunt is just good to have on him, because if you survive the onslaught, you get free hazards. Seismic Toss is there only because Deoxys-D doesn't really hit that hard, and I couldn't really find a 4th move I liked on him.
Valor (Talonflame) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
Sorry for the picture, got a good laugh out of it. Anyways, I decided my team needed another physical sweeper and some more Fire typing for when Absol eventually dies. Enter Talonflame, the super-fast physical sweeper like a bird out of hell. I've swept teams with this guy before, and with good reason. Gale Wings gives Bravebird priority, and can 1HKO a suprising number of Pokemon if you manage to squeeze a Swords Dance in there somewhere in the late-game hustle, and bustle. Flare blitz seemd like an obvious choice since it's a STAB and my only other actual Fire Attack apart from Absol's Fire Blast. Roost and Leftovers are there to deal with recoil from the rest of his kit.
Thanks for your time everybody, I'm sorry for the awful League of Legends references, and the singular reference to Darker Than Black (if you caught them) and the run-on sentences (chain of consciousness writers ftw!) This was my first forum post, so if you see anyway I can improve it to be easier to read or format, please PM me your suggestions.
P.S.: Sorry for the whole peaked at 1337 thing, I figured it would grab people's attention, but I am telling the truth, I even have screenshot to prove it:
The Team:
Reaper (Absol) (M) @ Absolite
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Snatch
- Protect
- Fire Blast
Alright, so I knew whatever team I made would have Absol on it. He has long been my favorite pokemon in existence due to his cool looks, and really cool lore. To my suprise, he had a Mega Evolution, and it makes him an extremely powerful Anti-Lead. The Mega-Evolution gives him bounce, which is a great way to ruin first turn hazard sets, and many pokemon who will attempt to open up with disabilities like spore/thunderwave, and then try to buff and baton-pass. Speaking of buffing, Snatch has got to be one my favorite moves in this game. It can be really frustrating for the enemy to deal with, and I have swept before with a buffed Mega Absol spamming Sucker Punch. Protect just seemed like common sense since better players know what Mega Absol does, and I threw in Fireblast to bait popular openers Like Ferrothorn, Trevenant, and Forretress. Plus it just seems people never expect Absol to know a fire move.
Maokai (Trevenant) (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 132 SDef
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Curse
- Will-O-Wisp
Let me just say how much I love this guy. He alone has earned me plenty of ragequit with this setup. I decided to go with a split in terms of Defenses on this guy, mostly due to my inexperience of how people would attempt to respond to this. Every part of his moveset is incredibly frustrating to deal with. If you can set this guy up behind a sub, the fun shall begin. Lucky for us, Leech Seed, Curse, and Will-o-Wisp all stack, so you can have all 3 down at the same time. Thanks to sitrus berry, you can pull this combo off multiple times over provided you get lucky with your Harvesting. He is a wallbreaking wall, what's not to love?
Zeus (Thundurus) (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
With a name like Æthereal (celestial or heavenly) I needed something to fit the theme (seeing as Absol already filled the "Black Reaper" Role. Enter Thundurus, or Zeus, if you will. He's my main special sweeper, and he has a semi-versatile moveset to deal with the fact that he is choiced. Volt-switch seemed pretty mandatory because I'm choiced, and the fact that it's pretty good as a STAB. The last 3 moves just covered glaring weaknesses my team had no way to cover (dragon hunting and what not).
Nami (Azumarill) (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
At this point, I was looking to throw a Fairy in the team because of the amazing type coverage they bring. I quickly decided on Azumarill after getting swept by them on my first week of playing. I originally ran the belly drum setup, but ended up disliking it after trying it. Then a friend pointed me in the direction of Avos5, and his Azumarill setup. Assualt Vest covers most of the more common moves that would be super-effective against it. Brick Break and Play Rough added even more type coverage to the team, and plus Brick Break comes in handy when you bump into the Klefki Dual Screen team. Aqua Jet was a no-brainer, who doesn't love Priority on a sweeper? Waterfall I chose because it is, like Aqua Jet, a STAB, and it hits harder when you know you are faster, or take a hit.
Stryx (Deoxys-Defense) @ Red Card
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Seismic Toss
I went with Deoxys-D as my hazard setter, and am still testing himw ith this team, but he's done a good job thus far. I've been told that for any sort of offensive team, he is the best hazard setter, so i wnet with it. I'm still not entirely sure I even need a Hazard setter, and I've been tempted to replace him with something more wally, like Chancey, Blissy, or Gliscor. Enough complaining, on to why I like him. Stealth Rock and Spikes, classic hazard setting, no complaint there. Taunt is just good to have on him, because if you survive the onslaught, you get free hazards. Seismic Toss is there only because Deoxys-D doesn't really hit that hard, and I couldn't really find a 4th move I liked on him.
Valor (Talonflame) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
Sorry for the picture, got a good laugh out of it. Anyways, I decided my team needed another physical sweeper and some more Fire typing for when Absol eventually dies. Enter Talonflame, the super-fast physical sweeper like a bird out of hell. I've swept teams with this guy before, and with good reason. Gale Wings gives Bravebird priority, and can 1HKO a suprising number of Pokemon if you manage to squeeze a Swords Dance in there somewhere in the late-game hustle, and bustle. Flare blitz seemd like an obvious choice since it's a STAB and my only other actual Fire Attack apart from Absol's Fire Blast. Roost and Leftovers are there to deal with recoil from the rest of his kit.
Thanks for your time everybody, I'm sorry for the awful League of Legends references, and the singular reference to Darker Than Black (if you caught them) and the run-on sentences (chain of consciousness writers ftw!) This was my first forum post, so if you see anyway I can improve it to be easier to read or format, please PM me your suggestions.
