When creating this team, I had an idea in mind. I wanted to avoid using all of the ultra-common pokemon that litter the metagame. That means (to me) things like azelf, infernape, heatran, scizor, jirachi, rotom, gyarados, blissey, tyranitar, skarmory, and machamp.
Edits in BOLD
First off: The Lead
Aerodactyl (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
I chose Aerodactyl, because whilst still functioning as an effective way to get up SR, it also functions exceptionally as an anti-lead. Aerodactyl's blazing speed allows me to get an ensured 2 attacks against any pokemon without priority. This usually means that I can 2HKO, and then set up SR after their lead goes down. I don't really use taunt that often right off the bat, but it can come in handy later on in the game. If Aerodactyl survives the lead scenario, it can function later as a revenge killer. How I deal with common leads:
Metagross: EQ on first turn, they meteor mash. Aerodactyl is brought to its sash. I then switch to magnezone to deal with it appropriately.
Machamp: Switch to slowbro
Jirachi: Go for earthquake. if it's scarf (it will outspeed), then switch to magnezone to resist the choice-locked iron heads and trap.
Swampert: Set up SR on the first move. If it uses ice beam, i switch to magnezone. If it SR's, I eq next turn, it ice beams, and then i bring in magnezone.
Forretress: Taunt first turn. If it carries gyro ball, switch to magnezone. Otherwise eq until dead.
Azelf: Stone edge first turn. If suicide azelf, it will 2HKO. If it's a dual screener, i have issues, since it usually taunts that turn, and then i can't taunt it to prevent the screens, and i can't 2HKO, or even 3HKO (thanks to reflect) with stone edge, since it's bulkier.
Infernape: Switch to Gengar on the fake-out. Deal with it appropriately from there.
Opposing Aerodactyl: I don't find these very common, but i just try to 2HKO with stone edge. It's not reliably, thanks to the speed tie and stone edge's accuracy, but it's the best i've got.
Roserade: This one is the real problem. I don't like to do it, but i usually switch to dragonite to take the sleep with its lum berry, and hope for a sleep powder miss so i can 2HKO with fire punch.
Smeargle: Taunt, say no more.
Ninjask: SR on the protect, taunt on the swords dance, take a 4x resisted X-Scissor, and OHKO with stone edge. If it flees, then SR will deal with it when it comes back.
Misc UU fake-out users (Ambipom, Persian, etc): Switch to gengar, focus blast.
Next up is Aerodactyl's perfect partner, the almighty magnezone.
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Magnet Rise
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Magnezone functions perfectly with Aerodactly, helping to take out the leads that Aero can't. What is really fun, is with the popularity of lead metagross, how well it can handle it. It switches in on the bullet punch, magnet rises before most earthquakes, and then sets up a sub, which will either block an explosion, or survive a meteor mash. Magnezone is also my team's solid response to pretty much all the steel types out there (bar heatran and lucario), since it handles them so well. Also, removing steel types make's dragonite's sweep much easier later on.
Next to bat is the mid-game sweeper, and old first gen trickster, Gengar.
Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
This Gengar really is fun. The combination of life orb and substitute does sap health pretty quickly, but gengar can't really take any hits anyway, and the added safety of substitute, and power of life orb are too good to give up. The plan is: come in on something gengar can scare out, set up a sub on the switch, and then have fun. For the most part, if something is fast enough to break gengar's sub before it attacks, then gengar can OHKO it, and if it breaks the sub, then it can usually 2HKO it anyway. Many teams are extremely unprepared to deal with gengar, and it can sometimes get 3-4 KO's all on its own.
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Following people's suggestions, i included a metagross to deal with gengar/tyranitar. I decided to replace breloom, since metagross makes a more reliable physical attacker anyway.
Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk/40 Spd/216 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
Bullet punch is there for revenge kills and things like gengar. Meteor mash is useful for power, and the attack raise can be used to get out of stall wars with things like crocune or registeel. Earthquake has good coverage with meteor mash, so that allows for pursuit to be carried in the last slot in order to deal with rotom and fleeing psychics/ghosts. Also, since it is very specially bulky, it can take draco meteors, making it a good way to deal with the various rampaging dragons in the ou tier.
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Now, i have the late-game sweeper, Lance's signature pokemon, Dragonite.
Dragonite (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Extremespeed
After magnezone has cleared out at least the most problematic of the steels (i.e. scizor/metagross), dragonite can pull off a nice sweep. If it gets one dragonite, it can take a large dent out of a team, and once dragonite has two dragon dances under its belt, it's almost totally unstoppable. Extremespeed replaced fire punch because the coverage issues that call for fire punch are all steel types dealt with by magnezone, and extremespeed can help to prevent revenge kills during dragonite's setup or sweep.
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This sixth slot has been one of great contention, but I eventually decided on Slowbro:
Slowbro (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Surf
- Slack Off
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave
This sixth slot has had quite a few candidates pass through it. I started with a tentacruel, because it could rapid spin, set up toxic spikes, and function as a bulky water, but I found that it wasn't working well and the poison from toxic spikes was interfering with breloom's spore. Therefore, i switched it for a forretress. Fortress could set up spikes, spin, and explode, so it worked decently well. However, i found that i was having issues with it being set-up fodder, and i figured that i didn't really need spikes, so i switched it for vaporeon, going back to the bulky water. Vaporeon's wish support was helpful, but since the team is so primarily frail sweepers, wish had a hard time getting through. I also had found throughout the whole time, that I always had issues with machamp, sometimes needing to sacrifice two pokemon to get through it. That prompted me to bring in Slowbro.
Slowbro's function as a utility counter to machamp is enough to give it a spot on my team, but I also find that it helps to deal dragon dancers that manage to set up (except tyrannitar that carry crunch), since it can take physical hits, and thunder wave can just shut them right back down so one of my sweepers can KO it. It also helps with the team's scarf flygon weakness, as it can take a hit and OHKO with ice beam.
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Since I have been using this team on Pokélab, I don't know where it has gotten me on the ladder, but I find that it functions well, and since it is so unconventional, many teams are unprepared for the threats that it possesses.
Previous Members:
Now, it kind of breaks the theme of using uncommon pokemon, but i have breloom:
Breloom (F) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Seed Bomb
- Spore
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
It's a standard sub-punching breloom, set, and i use it to take out blissey, because otherwise i have to resort to using dragonite's outrage. Breloom is hated by all for a reason: it works well, and it's really annoying when it does work. Breloom basically always gets a free KO at some point, and can put to sleep a significant threat, such as scarfed rotom or flygon.
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Edits in BOLD
First off: The Lead
Aerodactyl (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
I chose Aerodactyl, because whilst still functioning as an effective way to get up SR, it also functions exceptionally as an anti-lead. Aerodactyl's blazing speed allows me to get an ensured 2 attacks against any pokemon without priority. This usually means that I can 2HKO, and then set up SR after their lead goes down. I don't really use taunt that often right off the bat, but it can come in handy later on in the game. If Aerodactyl survives the lead scenario, it can function later as a revenge killer. How I deal with common leads:
Metagross: EQ on first turn, they meteor mash. Aerodactyl is brought to its sash. I then switch to magnezone to deal with it appropriately.
Machamp: Switch to slowbro
Jirachi: Go for earthquake. if it's scarf (it will outspeed), then switch to magnezone to resist the choice-locked iron heads and trap.
Swampert: Set up SR on the first move. If it uses ice beam, i switch to magnezone. If it SR's, I eq next turn, it ice beams, and then i bring in magnezone.
Forretress: Taunt first turn. If it carries gyro ball, switch to magnezone. Otherwise eq until dead.
Azelf: Stone edge first turn. If suicide azelf, it will 2HKO. If it's a dual screener, i have issues, since it usually taunts that turn, and then i can't taunt it to prevent the screens, and i can't 2HKO, or even 3HKO (thanks to reflect) with stone edge, since it's bulkier.
Infernape: Switch to Gengar on the fake-out. Deal with it appropriately from there.
Opposing Aerodactyl: I don't find these very common, but i just try to 2HKO with stone edge. It's not reliably, thanks to the speed tie and stone edge's accuracy, but it's the best i've got.
Roserade: This one is the real problem. I don't like to do it, but i usually switch to dragonite to take the sleep with its lum berry, and hope for a sleep powder miss so i can 2HKO with fire punch.
Smeargle: Taunt, say no more.
Ninjask: SR on the protect, taunt on the swords dance, take a 4x resisted X-Scissor, and OHKO with stone edge. If it flees, then SR will deal with it when it comes back.
Misc UU fake-out users (Ambipom, Persian, etc): Switch to gengar, focus blast.
Next up is Aerodactyl's perfect partner, the almighty magnezone.
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Magnet Rise
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Magnezone functions perfectly with Aerodactly, helping to take out the leads that Aero can't. What is really fun, is with the popularity of lead metagross, how well it can handle it. It switches in on the bullet punch, magnet rises before most earthquakes, and then sets up a sub, which will either block an explosion, or survive a meteor mash. Magnezone is also my team's solid response to pretty much all the steel types out there (bar heatran and lucario), since it handles them so well. Also, removing steel types make's dragonite's sweep much easier later on.
Next to bat is the mid-game sweeper, and old first gen trickster, Gengar.
Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
This Gengar really is fun. The combination of life orb and substitute does sap health pretty quickly, but gengar can't really take any hits anyway, and the added safety of substitute, and power of life orb are too good to give up. The plan is: come in on something gengar can scare out, set up a sub on the switch, and then have fun. For the most part, if something is fast enough to break gengar's sub before it attacks, then gengar can OHKO it, and if it breaks the sub, then it can usually 2HKO it anyway. Many teams are extremely unprepared to deal with gengar, and it can sometimes get 3-4 KO's all on its own.
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Following people's suggestions, i included a metagross to deal with gengar/tyranitar. I decided to replace breloom, since metagross makes a more reliable physical attacker anyway.
Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk/40 Spd/216 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
Bullet punch is there for revenge kills and things like gengar. Meteor mash is useful for power, and the attack raise can be used to get out of stall wars with things like crocune or registeel. Earthquake has good coverage with meteor mash, so that allows for pursuit to be carried in the last slot in order to deal with rotom and fleeing psychics/ghosts. Also, since it is very specially bulky, it can take draco meteors, making it a good way to deal with the various rampaging dragons in the ou tier.
---
Now, i have the late-game sweeper, Lance's signature pokemon, Dragonite.
Dragonite (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Extremespeed
After magnezone has cleared out at least the most problematic of the steels (i.e. scizor/metagross), dragonite can pull off a nice sweep. If it gets one dragonite, it can take a large dent out of a team, and once dragonite has two dragon dances under its belt, it's almost totally unstoppable. Extremespeed replaced fire punch because the coverage issues that call for fire punch are all steel types dealt with by magnezone, and extremespeed can help to prevent revenge kills during dragonite's setup or sweep.
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This sixth slot has been one of great contention, but I eventually decided on Slowbro:
Slowbro (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Surf
- Slack Off
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave
This sixth slot has had quite a few candidates pass through it. I started with a tentacruel, because it could rapid spin, set up toxic spikes, and function as a bulky water, but I found that it wasn't working well and the poison from toxic spikes was interfering with breloom's spore. Therefore, i switched it for a forretress. Fortress could set up spikes, spin, and explode, so it worked decently well. However, i found that i was having issues with it being set-up fodder, and i figured that i didn't really need spikes, so i switched it for vaporeon, going back to the bulky water. Vaporeon's wish support was helpful, but since the team is so primarily frail sweepers, wish had a hard time getting through. I also had found throughout the whole time, that I always had issues with machamp, sometimes needing to sacrifice two pokemon to get through it. That prompted me to bring in Slowbro.
Slowbro's function as a utility counter to machamp is enough to give it a spot on my team, but I also find that it helps to deal dragon dancers that manage to set up (except tyrannitar that carry crunch), since it can take physical hits, and thunder wave can just shut them right back down so one of my sweepers can KO it. It also helps with the team's scarf flygon weakness, as it can take a hit and OHKO with ice beam.
---
Since I have been using this team on Pokélab, I don't know where it has gotten me on the ladder, but I find that it functions well, and since it is so unconventional, many teams are unprepared for the threats that it possesses.
Previous Members:
Now, it kind of breaks the theme of using uncommon pokemon, but i have breloom:
Breloom (F) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Seed Bomb
- Spore
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
It's a standard sub-punching breloom, set, and i use it to take out blissey, because otherwise i have to resort to using dragonite's outrage. Breloom is hated by all for a reason: it works well, and it's really annoying when it does work. Breloom basically always gets a free KO at some point, and can put to sleep a significant threat, such as scarfed rotom or flygon.
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