So I just started playing 4th gen pkmn on PokeLab about 3-4 weeks ago after having a 3-year gap from last I played. I've played around 40 matches or so with this particular team, and it has been my fave so far. I've won a bit over half of my matches with this team, and I totally dig it. However, since I'm definitely not as seasoned (4th gen wise, at least), I would like to see what more experienced players think.
Also, I spent a lot of time thinking into this team and tried my best to not just copy the smogon builds, although they did give me significant insight into the metagame.
My team:
note*: I personally follow item clause since I find it boring/uncreative to just spam leftovers on every poke. Besides, leftovers isn't thaaaaaaaaat great (just very great).
Ambipom @ Lum Berry
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Nature: Adamant
- Fake Out
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- U-turn
Fake Out, U-turn, and Taunt I believe are self-explanatory (scouting, stopping walls). The reason why I have Knock Off instead of Double Hit or anything else that is offensively superior is because I like to knock off leftovers on walls. Ambipom isn't exactly a powerhouse its Fake Out and U-turn does well against frail pokes anyways. To me, a knocking off a bulky leftovers does more damage than ambipom can do to any wall. Also, Knock Off provides me info about the opponent (I loves me my info ^^).
Smeargle @ Damp Rock
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 Def / 252 Spd / 4 SpDef
Nature: Timid
- Rain Dance
- Spore
- Toxic Spikes
- Stealth Rock
I used to run a Belly Drum lead Smeargle, and as much fun as that is when I get it off, those problems quickly shown themselves. The Smeargle is mainly to get that dumb Spore off, of course against anything slower for a guaranteed sleep. I would then most likely Toxic Spikes. My Smeargle would usually come in on anything slow, but I don't like to send it in early; I believe an opponent would be way more annoyed by a late game Spore than an early one, as he/she would have less options, assuming he/she has less pokemon by then. If my Dusknoir is still alive and well, I wouldn't start Rain Dancing yet, as I would leave that to my Empoleon. Revealing a Rain Dancing Smeargle tells too much to my opponent, so I would go for the boring hazards set-up.
Empoleon @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Spd / 252 SpAtk
Nature: Modest
- Agility
- Rain Dance
- Ice Beam
- Surf
There's usually three things I consider doing:
1) attack for damage
2) Rain Dance to set up for my Kingdra
3) Agility if Empoleon is safe to set up and start attacking
I don't rely on the Petaya Berry, but it's a decent surprise getting a STAB torrent/petaya surf off (if I got this off with rain dance AND agility, then my opponent must have did something wrong). I set off Rain Dance for Kingdra if I can see that Empoleon is going to die and can only get one move off.
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpDef
Nature: Impish
- Curse
- Confuse Ray
- Pain Split
- Substitute
Ah, my prized possession of this team. After seeing the smogon builds, I was like, "what the, who would use this thing to attack? its punching isn't that great." The first thing people would say seeing this build would be "curse and substitute does too much damage to it self blah blah." Yes, very true. It's rare for this guy to take out much pokemon anyways.
However, when this guy works it is awwweeesome. I would generally begin with curse or confuse ray depending on the situation. If I get a curse off, I get a guaranteed 25%, whether Dusknoir dies or not (hopefully not). Next up is then Confuse Ray on the stand-in or switch-in, then pain split to gain a little hp or a lot back depending if he/she switches or not.
worst case scenario: opponent uses a faster sub or taunt
next worst case: one single 25% from curse (but hey, at least I get another 25% or force a switch)
usual scenario: kill off one of opponent's pokemon
next usual scenario: kill off one and curse the next
a-hole winning move: curse their last pokemon
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Evs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Nature: Adamant
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
- U-turn
Sigh, this smogon build is too effective. Or rather, choice banded bullet punch Scizor is too effective. If I whittled the opponent's pokemon enough, I would perceive to then hide my Scizor until the end and then bullet punch everything. (I would also hide my Dusknoir if I get successful early rain dance action going).
Kingdra @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
Evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Outrage
- Waterfall
This Kingdra is my next most fave on this team. It doesn't exactly destroy after a Rain Dance from Empoleon or Smeargle, but it gives me the speed bonus to do what I want. If I sense a T-wave or Will-o-Wisp, I'll sub. Then I'll start DDancing or attacking, whichever suits best. The Liechi Berry also helps me save a turn/move. Then the quality of my opponent shows depending on how much my Kingdra gets to set up.
Final notes:
My team doesn't look that scary to me, but its unorthodox combo and my success with it has made it my favorite team. Also, as with any good matches, my losses seem to be more from poor reads. That being said, some of my wins seem to be more from excellent reads rather than having any good pokemon.
Or, I could have been in la-la land this whole time and only played with super noobs and all you pros out there are face-palming at my team.
Thoughts please? :D
Also, I spent a lot of time thinking into this team and tried my best to not just copy the smogon builds, although they did give me significant insight into the metagame.
My team:
note*: I personally follow item clause since I find it boring/uncreative to just spam leftovers on every poke. Besides, leftovers isn't thaaaaaaaaat great (just very great).
Ambipom @ Lum Berry
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Nature: Adamant
- Fake Out
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- U-turn
Fake Out, U-turn, and Taunt I believe are self-explanatory (scouting, stopping walls). The reason why I have Knock Off instead of Double Hit or anything else that is offensively superior is because I like to knock off leftovers on walls. Ambipom isn't exactly a powerhouse its Fake Out and U-turn does well against frail pokes anyways. To me, a knocking off a bulky leftovers does more damage than ambipom can do to any wall. Also, Knock Off provides me info about the opponent (I loves me my info ^^).
Smeargle @ Damp Rock
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 Def / 252 Spd / 4 SpDef
Nature: Timid
- Rain Dance
- Spore
- Toxic Spikes
- Stealth Rock
I used to run a Belly Drum lead Smeargle, and as much fun as that is when I get it off, those problems quickly shown themselves. The Smeargle is mainly to get that dumb Spore off, of course against anything slower for a guaranteed sleep. I would then most likely Toxic Spikes. My Smeargle would usually come in on anything slow, but I don't like to send it in early; I believe an opponent would be way more annoyed by a late game Spore than an early one, as he/she would have less options, assuming he/she has less pokemon by then. If my Dusknoir is still alive and well, I wouldn't start Rain Dancing yet, as I would leave that to my Empoleon. Revealing a Rain Dancing Smeargle tells too much to my opponent, so I would go for the boring hazards set-up.
Empoleon @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Spd / 252 SpAtk
Nature: Modest
- Agility
- Rain Dance
- Ice Beam
- Surf
There's usually three things I consider doing:
1) attack for damage
2) Rain Dance to set up for my Kingdra
3) Agility if Empoleon is safe to set up and start attacking
I don't rely on the Petaya Berry, but it's a decent surprise getting a STAB torrent/petaya surf off (if I got this off with rain dance AND agility, then my opponent must have did something wrong). I set off Rain Dance for Kingdra if I can see that Empoleon is going to die and can only get one move off.
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Evs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpDef
Nature: Impish
- Curse
- Confuse Ray
- Pain Split
- Substitute
Ah, my prized possession of this team. After seeing the smogon builds, I was like, "what the, who would use this thing to attack? its punching isn't that great." The first thing people would say seeing this build would be "curse and substitute does too much damage to it self blah blah." Yes, very true. It's rare for this guy to take out much pokemon anyways.
However, when this guy works it is awwweeesome. I would generally begin with curse or confuse ray depending on the situation. If I get a curse off, I get a guaranteed 25%, whether Dusknoir dies or not (hopefully not). Next up is then Confuse Ray on the stand-in or switch-in, then pain split to gain a little hp or a lot back depending if he/she switches or not.
worst case scenario: opponent uses a faster sub or taunt
next worst case: one single 25% from curse (but hey, at least I get another 25% or force a switch)
usual scenario: kill off one of opponent's pokemon
next usual scenario: kill off one and curse the next
a-hole winning move: curse their last pokemon
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Evs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Nature: Adamant
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
- U-turn
Sigh, this smogon build is too effective. Or rather, choice banded bullet punch Scizor is too effective. If I whittled the opponent's pokemon enough, I would perceive to then hide my Scizor until the end and then bullet punch everything. (I would also hide my Dusknoir if I get successful early rain dance action going).
Kingdra @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
Evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Outrage
- Waterfall
This Kingdra is my next most fave on this team. It doesn't exactly destroy after a Rain Dance from Empoleon or Smeargle, but it gives me the speed bonus to do what I want. If I sense a T-wave or Will-o-Wisp, I'll sub. Then I'll start DDancing or attacking, whichever suits best. The Liechi Berry also helps me save a turn/move. Then the quality of my opponent shows depending on how much my Kingdra gets to set up.
Final notes:
My team doesn't look that scary to me, but its unorthodox combo and my success with it has made it my favorite team. Also, as with any good matches, my losses seem to be more from poor reads. That being said, some of my wins seem to be more from excellent reads rather than having any good pokemon.
Or, I could have been in la-la land this whole time and only played with super noobs and all you pros out there are face-palming at my team.
Thoughts please? :D
