Idea of the team:
The team:
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Toxic
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 16 Def / 200 SpD
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Healing Wish
- Defog
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 176 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rock Head
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
-Head Smash
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Superpower
So I'm a relative n00b to the competitive battling scene, I've been at it over the last year but I haven't really gotten into it that much, mostly because of time constrictions, so I've been on it on and off, and the highest I've gotten on the Smogon ladder was something like the low 1400s. Plus it wasn't even my deck.
The deck I was using was a Sand M-Lop team made by someone on the forums and put as one of the sample teams on the forums, consisting of Rotom-W, Amoongus, Mega Lopunny, Tyranitar, Tornadus-T, and Excadrill. I'd been using this team happily for about 2 months and then stopped doing Showdown because I didn't have the time for it.
I came back into fiddling around with Showdown, because I was bored, fiddled around and decided on the old team. Only now, one thing had changed. With the introduction of Volcanion, I found that none of my Pokemon on the old team could actually even handle Volcanion. Amoongus got Fire Blasted and though I'd expected Rotom-W to be able to deal with it better, it was at lower than half health after Steam Eruption. Ttar was obviously not a switch-in. The best strategy I could do was to set up sand, then send in Excadrill and hope that my opponent was stupid enough to stay in (which, obviously, doesn't happen).
So I tried to take advantage of the fact that Volcanion was basically everywhere and build my first team. I actually had no intention of making this into a stallish team, but that's what it became...
The deck I was using was a Sand M-Lop team made by someone on the forums and put as one of the sample teams on the forums, consisting of Rotom-W, Amoongus, Mega Lopunny, Tyranitar, Tornadus-T, and Excadrill. I'd been using this team happily for about 2 months and then stopped doing Showdown because I didn't have the time for it.
I came back into fiddling around with Showdown, because I was bored, fiddled around and decided on the old team. Only now, one thing had changed. With the introduction of Volcanion, I found that none of my Pokemon on the old team could actually even handle Volcanion. Amoongus got Fire Blasted and though I'd expected Rotom-W to be able to deal with it better, it was at lower than half health after Steam Eruption. Ttar was obviously not a switch-in. The best strategy I could do was to set up sand, then send in Excadrill and hope that my opponent was stupid enough to stay in (which, obviously, doesn't happen).
So I tried to take advantage of the fact that Volcanion was basically everywhere and build my first team. I actually had no intention of making this into a stallish team, but that's what it became...
The team:
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Toxic
I chose Gastrodon as my first Pokemon because, to be frank, I was blown away by Steam Eruption's sheer power with Specs, and I felt that I needed something which could negate that entirely. It handles Fire types with ease, due to its fantastic typing (with the exception of Mega Charizard Y because drought FTW) and is able to stall out threats with Toxic and Recover. I did debate between Earth Power and Earthquake but chose Earthquake because of the ability to break subs while uninvested, as Gastrodon's base 92 SpA really isn't special in OU. Scald is an almost obligatory STAB move that might help Gastrodon tank physical hits a little better with its burn.
I also happen to like Gastrodon a lot, it's one of my favourite Pokemon for almost no reason. I am still fine with replacing it if it has to go though.
I also happen to like Gastrodon a lot, it's one of my favourite Pokemon for almost no reason. I am still fine with replacing it if it has to go though.
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
Next, I looked at what Pokemon I could pick to compensate for Gastrodon's weaknesses. Most notably, Zard-Y and Dragonite, also very strong physical wallbreakers such as Mega Lopunny. I chose Hippowdon for that role for its ability to reliably check said threats. Plus, with its ability Sand Stream, it has the added benefit of adding some chip damage to the team. I chose Stone Edge for its ability to deal with common threats such as Zard-Y, Dragonite, and Thundurus, which may attempt to come in on Gastro and set up. Stealth Rock provides invaluable hazard support and also breaks Multiscale.
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
Nature: Impish
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 16 Def / 200 SpD
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
At this point I realized that my team had two Pokemon which were weak to Grass-types. Further, I realized that Lati@s would have essentially a free switch-in to my entire team. I decided on Scizor as the best way to counter both, and since it was going to switch into those Pokemon, especially Lati@s, I wanted it to be as bulky as possible while maintaining offensive pressure, which is why I went with this set, instead of the more offensive Swords Dance set. It is also my only Fairy check. Bullet Punch is an essential move on Scizor because it is quite slow, and to increase its pivoting abilities I decided on U-turn instead of Knock Off or Superpower. It also hits Grass types very hard. Roost ensures Scizor stays relatively healthy while tanking hits.
Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Healing Wish
- Defog
Latias brings hazard removal to the team while having great offensive and defensive synergy with Scizor, while being a check to Volcanion, Zard-Y and Keldeo. I could have chosen Latios, which is generally superior, but I needed something to heal Scizor if it got too low to switch in or was crippled by status.
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 176 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
With Latias taking on Electric types and providing Defog support, and having no Fighting type checks and no safe Dragon checks, I chose Togekiss, which also performs the role of a stallbreaker, virtue of Nasty Plot+Air Slash. Thunder Wave provides speed control for this team, which I realized now is quite slow.
Now that I consider, Clefable might be a better fit in this slot, but I'm not sure. I am aware that my team could be quite passive except for Latias, so I'm not sure if I can afford to run Clefable, which has a much lower SpA.
Now that I consider, Clefable might be a better fit in this slot, but I'm not sure. I am aware that my team could be quite passive except for Latias, so I'm not sure if I can afford to run Clefable, which has a much lower SpA.
Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rock Head
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
-Head Smash
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Superpower
I realized at this point I had 0 Flying resists, and except for Mega Scizor I also had no priority. I needed a fast revenge killer who could resist Flying types. So I looked at Rock types, debating on Terrakion, Tyranitar, or Tyrantrum. I gave up on Terrakion because of its Flying neutrality. The question then came to Scarf Tyranitar or Scarf Tyrantrum. I picked Tyrantrum here because of the speed difference. Earthquake and Superpower hit Steel types. Ground types are hit by Outrage.
