Hello, Smogon! This is my first Rate My Team, so I'd appreciate feedback. No, that doesn't really follow logically, but I can't think of a better conjunction right now than “so”.
This is my standard team that I've been using for a while now, and I had been achieving 1450 or so with it for a while, even though it's just comprised of a few of my favorites...
Then Platinum came out.
I ended up dropping like a rock to about 1350. (okay, maybe not quite like a rock, but still)
I tried to add some Platinum changes to my team (really only for Dusknoir), but that didn't work out too well. My team is almost pure defense, and many Platinum changes seem to be offensive. Please, don't suggest something like a Weavile or a Gengar or something like that. Breloom doesn't count, since I want a Grass type and he can heal pretty well, even in sandstorm.
Anyway, without further ado, here is my defensive, but not quite stall, team!
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EV's: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Sp Def
Impish nature (+Def, -Sp Atk)
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
- Dragon Dance
Here is my lead, Tyranitar. I use him for a couple big reasons:
Shuckle @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy (doesn't matter; Gluttony wouldn't be much help, now would it?)
EV's: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Sp Def
Impish nature (+Def, -Sp Atk)
- Toxic
- Encore
- Stealth Rock
- Rest
Shuckle! The annoying one who can annoy most other annoyers and almost all others, as long as they're not Steel or Poison type (oh wait... that's a lot of them). Anyway, I can switch him in on almost anything unboosted, including super-effective moves. I use Toxic, again obviously, as his main source of damage, and if I want to make my opponent more predictable, I'll use Encore. Speaking of predicting, though, I need to make sure I have an idea of what my opponent will do next and act according to the situation.
Flygon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 252 HP/84 Def/174 Sp Def
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Toxic
- Roost
First of all, you may ask, “Why would you put a special move on a Pokémon without a +Sp Atk nature and no EV's?” (if you wouldn't ask that, ignore this bit) I just use it for the coverage, e.g. on the Scizors that have suddenly started to run rampant. It also works wonders on Forretress, and, if it comes to it, Bronzong. On Skarmory it doesn't do so well because of Roost.
Now that that's off my chest, on to the other moves. Earthquake is really pretty self-explanatory, and Roost is for the insta-healing to mitigate the Life Orb damage. Life Orb, by the way, is for a bit of extra oomph, since I have no Atk EV's.
As an added bonus, Flygon can come in on the same Scizor using Swords Dance, survive a Bullet Punch and OHKO back with Fire Blast. Only with these Def EV's and Nature!
Toxic could be used for more "coverage", but I'm still open to other ideas. They'd have to be great, though!
Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EV's: 252 HP/20 Def/238 Sp Def
Careful nature (+Sp Def, -Sp Atk)
- Meteor Mash
- Thunderpunch
- Bullet Punch
- Explosion
Metagross finishes up the core of my team and also the 4 Pokémon I will not replace. It's there for the Steel typing, with its awesome resists, particularly for Salamence's Outrage. Thunderpunch is to hurt things like Gyarados, even without EV's (yay for 135 base Atk on a great defensive Pokémon!) Meteor Mash is pretty much given, and Bullet Punch is for the cleaning up, as normally after Stealth Rock, I can take out a Salamence that is locked into Outrage (most likely drawn by Flygon) with Meteor Mash and Bullet Punch (1 each).
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EV's: 252 HP/6 Def/252 Sp Def
Impish nature (+Def, -Sp Atk)
- Focus Punch
- Leech Seed
- Spore
- Substitute
Now I get to hazy territory. Breloom I'd really like to keep for the Poison Heal, Leech Seed and overall Grassiness. Spore is quite helpful, of course, as well, to put any unwanted switch-ins to sleep. Unfortunately, Breloom basically dies to many of the top threats in this new Platinum metagame: Heatran, Scizor (to an extent), Zapdos, Shaymin-Sky Forme... the list goes on and on and on...
Focus Punch is for the sheer power (what is it, base 225 with STAB?), the fact that it'll dent most non-Ghosts, and that it hits anything that Leech Seed doesn't. And Substitute is for what is essentially Sub-Seeding (and the aforementioned Focus Punch).
Rather than replace Breloom, I'd like to have suggestions for an alternate moveset, if possible, since he has quite a few options, but I am perfectly fine with what I have already.
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EV's: 252 HP/192 Def/66 Sp Def
Careful nature (+Sp Def, -Sp Atk)
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
And the final and least set in stone member of my team: Dusknoir. Will-O-Wisp is for shutting down most physical attackers, Earthquake is for Heatran (but if I can snag a Super-Effective hit on something else, hey, I won't complain), and Pain Split is obvious. Sucker Punch is just to do some more damage before he faints, e.g. on a Gengar using Shadow Ball. He can even take out a threat if they're gutsy enough to attack with low HP. Believe it or not, it's actually proven useful on a number of occasions. The nature and EV's are tailored to even out his defenses, as with my other Pokémon. I just don't like specializing stat-wise, even to only that extent, defensively. I am unsure about how to alter them, though, now that I have Will-O-Wisp; I want to be able to take hits well from both sides of the spectrum without Burn, but I don't think I'd need so many Def EV's since I do have Will-O-Wisp. Also, if you think that Sucker Punch is really bad, then I could switch to Toxic...
So, now for threats (real threats are bold):
Tyranitar -- Breloom resists just about everything, but for Fire Punch, and can hit back with Mach Punch
Gyarados -- difficult... maybe I can hurt it with Thunderpunch on Metagross?
Infernape -- Flygon can switch in if I bait a Fire Blast with, say, Metagross or Breloom
Azelf -- they're generally leads, so Tyranitar can OHKO them with Crunch and switch in otherwise
Electivire -- I need Shuckle to Encore him first, then to Tyranitar, Flygon, or just Toxic
Heracross -- Dusknoir works well enough, I think
Salamence -- most likely a switch-in then hit with Meteor Mash and Bullet Punch on Metagross
Togekiss -- Shuckle for Toxic, as long as I can avoid flinching too much; worst case: Metagross to break through with Meteor Mash
Gengar -- not too bad; Metagross dispatches him pretty quickly; Trick isn't horrible for Metagross
Lucario -- Shuckle to Encore, etc.; Breloom as a last resort
Starmie -- Tyranitar doesn't take too much from Surf; Crunch=KO-ed starfish
Weavile -- Mach Punch, as Ice Shard isn't a OHKO on Breloom, I don't think
Dugtrio -- all comes down to who's trapped; Breloom is the only one who's OH, so Mach Punch is helpful
Porygon-Z -- Shuckle. Period. (worst case: sacrifice Shuckle for Toxic)
Machamp -- Dusknoir can handle him
Snorlax -- Shuckle again.
Zapdos -- OK, now this is some trouble; Stealth Rock can wear it down if it comes in and out a lot, and Shuckle can wear it out or set it up for another of my team to take out
Suicune -- gah, more troubles; I don't have much but Explosion. Help!
Breloom -- can be bad, but Fire Blast can probably KO before Breloom does
Slaking -- yeah, right.
Ninjask -- uh-uh.
Metagross -- I'm not sure what I could do with this, now that it has Trick; Flygon?
Heatran -- Flygon, with some prediction. Or even without. As you like.
Jirachi -- I have some trouble dealing damage to it, unless I use a lot of Earthquakes
Dragonite -- similar to Salamence
Mamoswine -- I have bad Mamoswine problems. Dusknoir can Will-O-Wisp, though.
Gallade -- similar to Machamp
Yanmega -- Shuckle yet again.
Kingdra -- brute force with Tyranitar, Flygon, Metagross
Roserade -- brute force again
Scizor -- Fire Blast if I can get Flygon in safely; if not... oh dear...
Shaymin-S -- Metagross.
Rate and help me fix this, please! If you have questions, just ask, and I'll fix this to suit them. And again, I'd prefer you didn't suggest excessively offensive ideas; it's just not my style. And please don't flame me for it.
I'll get around to making this look nicer later. I don't have the time now.
Thanks a lot!
This is my standard team that I've been using for a while now, and I had been achieving 1450 or so with it for a while, even though it's just comprised of a few of my favorites...
Then Platinum came out.
I ended up dropping like a rock to about 1350. (okay, maybe not quite like a rock, but still)
I tried to add some Platinum changes to my team (really only for Dusknoir), but that didn't work out too well. My team is almost pure defense, and many Platinum changes seem to be offensive. Please, don't suggest something like a Weavile or a Gengar or something like that. Breloom doesn't count, since I want a Grass type and he can heal pretty well, even in sandstorm.
Anyway, without further ado, here is my defensive, but not quite stall, team!
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EV's: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Sp Def
Impish nature (+Def, -Sp Atk)
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
- Dragon Dance
Here is my lead, Tyranitar. I use him for a couple big reasons:
- set up sandstorm, obviously
- bolster his and Shuckle's Sp Defenses
Shuckle @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy (doesn't matter; Gluttony wouldn't be much help, now would it?)
EV's: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Sp Def
Impish nature (+Def, -Sp Atk)
- Toxic
- Encore
- Stealth Rock
- Rest
Shuckle! The annoying one who can annoy most other annoyers and almost all others, as long as they're not Steel or Poison type (oh wait... that's a lot of them). Anyway, I can switch him in on almost anything unboosted, including super-effective moves. I use Toxic, again obviously, as his main source of damage, and if I want to make my opponent more predictable, I'll use Encore. Speaking of predicting, though, I need to make sure I have an idea of what my opponent will do next and act according to the situation.
Flygon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 252 HP/84 Def/174 Sp Def
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Toxic
- Roost
First of all, you may ask, “Why would you put a special move on a Pokémon without a +Sp Atk nature and no EV's?” (if you wouldn't ask that, ignore this bit) I just use it for the coverage, e.g. on the Scizors that have suddenly started to run rampant. It also works wonders on Forretress, and, if it comes to it, Bronzong. On Skarmory it doesn't do so well because of Roost.
Now that that's off my chest, on to the other moves. Earthquake is really pretty self-explanatory, and Roost is for the insta-healing to mitigate the Life Orb damage. Life Orb, by the way, is for a bit of extra oomph, since I have no Atk EV's.
As an added bonus, Flygon can come in on the same Scizor using Swords Dance, survive a Bullet Punch and OHKO back with Fire Blast. Only with these Def EV's and Nature!
Toxic could be used for more "coverage", but I'm still open to other ideas. They'd have to be great, though!
Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EV's: 252 HP/20 Def/238 Sp Def
Careful nature (+Sp Def, -Sp Atk)
- Meteor Mash
- Thunderpunch
- Bullet Punch
- Explosion
Metagross finishes up the core of my team and also the 4 Pokémon I will not replace. It's there for the Steel typing, with its awesome resists, particularly for Salamence's Outrage. Thunderpunch is to hurt things like Gyarados, even without EV's (yay for 135 base Atk on a great defensive Pokémon!) Meteor Mash is pretty much given, and Bullet Punch is for the cleaning up, as normally after Stealth Rock, I can take out a Salamence that is locked into Outrage (most likely drawn by Flygon) with Meteor Mash and Bullet Punch (1 each).
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EV's: 252 HP/6 Def/252 Sp Def
Impish nature (+Def, -Sp Atk)
- Focus Punch
- Leech Seed
- Spore
- Substitute
Now I get to hazy territory. Breloom I'd really like to keep for the Poison Heal, Leech Seed and overall Grassiness. Spore is quite helpful, of course, as well, to put any unwanted switch-ins to sleep. Unfortunately, Breloom basically dies to many of the top threats in this new Platinum metagame: Heatran, Scizor (to an extent), Zapdos, Shaymin-Sky Forme... the list goes on and on and on...
Focus Punch is for the sheer power (what is it, base 225 with STAB?), the fact that it'll dent most non-Ghosts, and that it hits anything that Leech Seed doesn't. And Substitute is for what is essentially Sub-Seeding (and the aforementioned Focus Punch).
Rather than replace Breloom, I'd like to have suggestions for an alternate moveset, if possible, since he has quite a few options, but I am perfectly fine with what I have already.
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EV's: 252 HP/192 Def/66 Sp Def
Careful nature (+Sp Def, -Sp Atk)
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
And the final and least set in stone member of my team: Dusknoir. Will-O-Wisp is for shutting down most physical attackers, Earthquake is for Heatran (but if I can snag a Super-Effective hit on something else, hey, I won't complain), and Pain Split is obvious. Sucker Punch is just to do some more damage before he faints, e.g. on a Gengar using Shadow Ball. He can even take out a threat if they're gutsy enough to attack with low HP. Believe it or not, it's actually proven useful on a number of occasions. The nature and EV's are tailored to even out his defenses, as with my other Pokémon. I just don't like specializing stat-wise, even to only that extent, defensively. I am unsure about how to alter them, though, now that I have Will-O-Wisp; I want to be able to take hits well from both sides of the spectrum without Burn, but I don't think I'd need so many Def EV's since I do have Will-O-Wisp. Also, if you think that Sucker Punch is really bad, then I could switch to Toxic...
So, now for threats (real threats are bold):
Tyranitar -- Breloom resists just about everything, but for Fire Punch, and can hit back with Mach Punch
Gyarados -- difficult... maybe I can hurt it with Thunderpunch on Metagross?
Infernape -- Flygon can switch in if I bait a Fire Blast with, say, Metagross or Breloom
Azelf -- they're generally leads, so Tyranitar can OHKO them with Crunch and switch in otherwise
Electivire -- I need Shuckle to Encore him first, then to Tyranitar, Flygon, or just Toxic
Heracross -- Dusknoir works well enough, I think
Salamence -- most likely a switch-in then hit with Meteor Mash and Bullet Punch on Metagross
Togekiss -- Shuckle for Toxic, as long as I can avoid flinching too much; worst case: Metagross to break through with Meteor Mash
Gengar -- not too bad; Metagross dispatches him pretty quickly; Trick isn't horrible for Metagross
Lucario -- Shuckle to Encore, etc.; Breloom as a last resort
Starmie -- Tyranitar doesn't take too much from Surf; Crunch=KO-ed starfish
Weavile -- Mach Punch, as Ice Shard isn't a OHKO on Breloom, I don't think
Dugtrio -- all comes down to who's trapped; Breloom is the only one who's OH, so Mach Punch is helpful
Porygon-Z -- Shuckle. Period. (worst case: sacrifice Shuckle for Toxic)
Machamp -- Dusknoir can handle him
Snorlax -- Shuckle again.
Zapdos -- OK, now this is some trouble; Stealth Rock can wear it down if it comes in and out a lot, and Shuckle can wear it out or set it up for another of my team to take out
Suicune -- gah, more troubles; I don't have much but Explosion. Help!
Breloom -- can be bad, but Fire Blast can probably KO before Breloom does
Slaking -- yeah, right.
Ninjask -- uh-uh.
Metagross -- I'm not sure what I could do with this, now that it has Trick; Flygon?
Heatran -- Flygon, with some prediction. Or even without. As you like.
Jirachi -- I have some trouble dealing damage to it, unless I use a lot of Earthquakes
Dragonite -- similar to Salamence
Mamoswine -- I have bad Mamoswine problems. Dusknoir can Will-O-Wisp, though.
Gallade -- similar to Machamp
Yanmega -- Shuckle yet again.
Kingdra -- brute force with Tyranitar, Flygon, Metagross
Roserade -- brute force again
Scizor -- Fire Blast if I can get Flygon in safely; if not... oh dear...
Shaymin-S -- Metagross.
Rate and help me fix this, please! If you have questions, just ask, and I'll fix this to suit them. And again, I'd prefer you didn't suggest excessively offensive ideas; it's just not my style. And please don't flame me for it.
I'll get around to making this look nicer later. I don't have the time now.
Thanks a lot!
