I'm not entirely sure if this goes in this section, but it's not an OU team, and it's designed for a tournament with my friends, which we decided will be tierless. There was a limit of 1 Uber per team, and at least 1 NU Pokemon must be present. Other than that, anything else was fair game.
History
I've been trolling on Smogon for quite a while, more specifically in the RMT Archive, and I saw Obi's thread. I read through his thoughts on Gardevoir. "Gardevoir was a cool idea I had to stop Heatran (Trace Flash Fire), heal itself on enemy Blissey (trace Natural Cure), and a whole bunch of other fun scenarios with Trace. I still haven't tested that one, but some day, it will make it onto one of my teams. :)"
I only have access to Pokemon Pearl and an Action Reply. Therefore, Pokemon like Bullet Punch Scizor, Wish Blissey and the Pt/HG/SS egg/tutor moves are completely inaccessible to me. I really liked Obi's team because I figured I could recreate it, minus the WishBliss.
That's when I saw his Gardevoir quote.
With that in mind, I decided to make a stall team that was partially based off of Obi's team, partially based off of what I wanted and partially based off of what I needed to use to make the team work. In the end, I came up with 3 Overused Pokemon, 1 Underused Pokemon, 1 Neverused Pokemon and 1 Uber.
Like Obi, no Pokemon had any set spots on my team - I was going to include Gardevoir if I could fit a spot for it on - and therefore I began with the same process as he did. Being relatively new to building stall teams, I decided I'd follow pretty much the same format that he used. With that in mind, I wanted Toxic Spikes, Spikes, Rapid Spin, a Spin Blocker, Wish and Perish Song. Additionally, I wanted a Pokemon with Trace, and Gardevoir happened to fit the bill. I like Porygon2 more, but it's a Pokemon that's more useful on offensively-minded teams.
For those of you who have read his thread, this is set up in an extremely similar manner, as I really liked his formatting. I've included reliable recovery moves (read: no Rest, Leech Seed or Pain Split) next to the name of the Pokemon in brackets. The Pokemon listed are Pokemon that I felt were useful. In the case of Nidoking vs Queen Nidoqueen won out due to better defensive stats, and I eliminated stuff I felt was crap on a stall team like Kabutops.
Toxic Spikes
Cloyster
50 HP | 180 Def | 45 Sp. Def
Drapion
70 HP | 110 Def | 75 Sp. Def
Forretress
75 HP | 140 Def | 60 Sp. Def
Nidoqueen
90 HP | 87 Def | 85 Sp. Def
Tentacruel
80 HP | 65 Def | 120 Sp. Def
Roserade [Synthesis]
60 HP | 55 Def | 105 Sp. Def
I really liked Tentacruel, although I feel that he doesn't have the best defensive typing. Cloyster kind of sucks, so I scratched him out right away. I felt like Roserade's defense was too low and therefore would quickly lose to stuff like CB Scizor, plus I don't have access to HP Fire 70 that so many use to counter steel types. That left Drapion, Forretress, Nidoqueen and Tentacruel.
I liked Drapion's immunity to Psychic and useful(?) resistances to Grass, Poison, Dark, and Ghost. I didn't like the neutrality to Bug and Fighting. I feel like a Poison type should be able to take Signal Beams and Bug Buzzes without keeling over and dieing. But for the time being, I kept Drapion.
I'd always used Forretress on my teams as a spiker, and I honestly wanted something new. I threw him out for just that reason.
Nidoqueen was another Pokemon I'd used extensively. Poison Spikes/SR/Ice Beam/Earth Power actually makes for a pretty decent lead. Ice Beam hit flying types and Earth Power gets those on the ground, and it hits the ubiquitous Skuntank for a good bit of damage. Nidoking does that better, for the record.
So, for Toxic Spikes I was left with Drapion/Nidoqueen/Tentacruel.
Spikes
Cloyster
50 HP | 180 Def | 45 Sp. Def
Deoxys-D
50 HP | 160 Def | 160 Sp. Def
Forretress
75 HP | 140 Def | 60 Sp. Def
Froslass
70 HP | 70 Def | 70 Sp. Def
Roserade [Synthesis]
60 HP | 55 Def | 105 Sp. Def
Skarmory [Roost]
65 HP | 140 Def | 70 Sp. Def
I eliminated Cloyster, Forretress and Roserade for the same reasons as I mentioned earlier. Additionally, in Roserade's situation, I felt that Sleep Power wasn't going to be used often on a team with Toxic Spikes.
Froslass just has generally low defensive stats, and I'm not planning on using a Hail Stall team, so she didn't make the cut.
I also toyed with the idea of using a Brightpowder Cacturne in the sand, but I decided that Gardevoir was the centerpiece of this team, and he doesn't function terribly well in the sand, so I decided I've save sand stalling for another day.
That left me with just Deoxys-D and Skarmory. I liked both of these, so I left them. For a Spiker, I had Deoxys-D/Skarmory.
Rapid Spin
Forretress
75 HP | 140 Def | 60 Sp. Def
Hitmontop
50 HP | 95 Def | 110 Sp. Def
Starmie [Recover]
60 HP | 85 Def | 85 Sp. Def
Tentacruel
80 HP | 65 Def | 120 Sp. Def
This is a really short list, because let's face it: most rapid spinners are crap, because they either have a Stealth Rock weakness or have no way of dealing with Toxic Spikes, or are just set-up, pursuit trap bait. *coughclaydolcough* I really liked the idea of Hitmontop's SR resistance (he's the only one up there with that resistance) but the weakness to Toxic Spikes removed him from competition.
I feel like Starmie's defensive stats are just inferior to...everything else up there. Natural Cure and all if cool, but that's only useful in negating Toxic Spikes, and it takes poison damage on the turn it spins anyway.
Forretress was also eliminated for the reason explained above.
That left Tentacruel as my only possible Rapid Spinner. I was totally okay with this choice: Tentacruel doesn't even need to waste a turn spinning away Toxic Spikes. The lack of recovery kinda bothered me, and the fact that Empoleon walks all over me and sets up like crazy was a little unsettling (remember: no HP Electric/Fighting/Ground here!) as well, but it was the best I had.
Ghosts
Arceus [Recover]
120 HP | 120 Def | 120 Sp. Def
Dusknoir
45 HP | 135 Def | 135 Sp. Def
Giratina
150 HP | 120 Def | 120 Sp. Def
Spiritomb
50 HP | 108 Def | 108 Sp. Def
I felt like Dusknoir was an inferior Spiritomb because of the typing and slightly lower HP, so I cast him away. Really, Arceus, Giratina or Spiritomb could all function equally well as my ghost, so I left all three of them.
Wish
Clefable [Softboiled, Wish]
95 HP | 73 Def | 90 Sp. Def
Gardevoir [Wish]
68 HP | 65 Def | 115 Sp. Def
Jirachi [Wish]
100 HP | 100 Def | 100 Sp. Def
Latias [Wish]
80 HP | 90 Def | 130 Sp. Def
Togekiss [Softboiled, Roost, Wish]
85 HP | 95 Def | 115 Sp. Def
Umbreon [Wish]
95 HP | 110 Def | 130 Sp. Def
Vaporeon [Wish, Aqua Ring]
130 HP | 60 Def | 95 Sp. Def
Wigglytuff [Wish]
140 HP | 45 Def | 50 Sp. Def
This was a really long wish, although I took out Wigglytuff immediately because it pretty much sucks. I figured that since I already was using Tentacruel, I wanted to avoid compounding my electric weakness, so Togekiss and Vaporeon got the boot (which was hard for me to do, 'cause I love both of them). I figured that Jirachi wasn't going to be much use besides sponging random dragon attacks, and I already possibly had Skarmory to do that. I just don't really like Jirachi. Umbreon's not a very established wall, and has the same bug weakness as Gardevoir. Latias and Gardevoir share a pursuit weakness, so she got kicked out too.
That left Clefable/Gardevoir. The latter was going on the team anyway, but I already had an extra spot from combining Tentacruel as both a Rapid Spinner and Toxic Spiker, so I figured that if it came down to it, I could definitely use Clefable. Both Gardevoir, Tentacruel and my Ghost resist fighting attacks, and all appreciate a Ghost immunity, so I figured her typing fit really well with the team.
Perish Song
Altaria [Roost]
75 HP | 90 Def | 105 Sp. Def
Arceus [Recover]
120 HP | 120 Def | 120 Sp. Def
Celebi [Recover]
100 HP | 100 Def | 100 Sp. Def
Dewgong
90 HP | 80 Def | 95 Sp. Def
Lapras
130 HP | 80 Def | 95 Sp. Def
Politoad
90 HP | 75 Def | 100 Sp. Def
Wigglytuff [Wish]
140 HP | 45 Def | 50 Sp. Def
I immediately decided that Arceus would function as both my Ghost and Perish Songer, so I didn't really have much of a thought process on this besides "wow, everybody on this list either sucks or has an Electric/Fighting/Pursuit weakness."
That left:
TS - Tentacruel
S - Skarmory/Deoxys-D
RS - Tentacruel
SB - Arceus
W - Clefable/Gardevoir
PS - Arceus
Trace - Gardevoir
I chose Skarmory over Deoxys because of the 1 uber rule. As for Clefable/Gardevoir, I picked Clefable, but decided I'd keep Wish in Gardevoir anyway just in case one of them fainted or there was an opponent that I didn't like. That meant my team now looked like this:
Tentacruel/Skarmory/Arceus/Clefable/Gardevoir/_________
With the spare slot, I decided to take another leaf out of Obi's book and pick Hippowdon. Two of my team members were already immune to Sandstorm, and with two wishers, I felt like it wasn't going to be a big problem. Additionally, Hippowdon gets SR and makes a great lead, and has Slack Off.
The team now looked like this:
Hippowdon/Skarmory/Tentacruel/Gardevoir/Clefable/Arceus
The Team
Lead, SR, Roar, Physical Wall
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Sand Stream
Impish (+ Def, - Sp. Atk)
252 HP, 40 Atk, 176 Def, 40 Sp. Def
~ Stealth Rock
~ Roar
~ Slack Off
~ Earthquake
The EV spread is slightly different from the only Obi used because I wanted to ensure that KO on those Fire and Steel types that I know my friends like to use. Stealth Rock is self-explanatory, and combines really well with Roar to shuffle the opposing team around and garner some passive damage. 12.5% + 6.25& = 18.75% per turn. That's equivalent to two layers of Spikes. Earthquake is because it's great STAB and helps remedy the Tyranitar problem a bit, and Slack Off because it's a good recovery move. I suppose I have a pretty big Gengar weakness without Crunch, and I do have two Wishers, so I suppose I could nix Slack Off in favor of Crunch. I'll have to do some playtesting on that one at the tournament.
Spikes, Roar, Physical Wall
Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Keen Eye
Impish (+Def, - Sp. Atk)
252 HP, 212 Def, 40 Sp. Def, 4 Spd
~ Brave Bird
~ Roar
~ Spikes
~ Roost
Roar over Whirlwind simply because this is in-game and I already had a Brave Bird Impish Skarmory without Whirlwind. Spikes because that's why Skarm is on the team, and Roost for good recovery. Shed Shell over Leftovers because of Wish and the fact that Magzezone, Magneton, and Dugtrio (sometimes combined with Gravity) are too big of a risk to take. Probopass too, as Skarmory really can't touch him, although I really doubt I'll see him. Also, there's an item clause of no more than 4 of the same item, and Arceus uses Spooky Plate and everybody else needs Leftovers to negate Sandstorm damage.
Toxic Spikes, Rapid Spin, Toxic, Special Sponge
Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Clear Body
Calm (+Sp. Def, -Atk)
252 HP, 120 Def, 136 Sp. Def
~ Toxic Spikes
~ Rapid Spin
~ Surf
~ Toxic
Originally I wanted Liquid Ooze, but I couldn't seem the breed a 31/x/31/31/31/x Calm Liquid Ooze Tentacool. Instead, I got Clear Body, which I guess helps against Mean Look + Sand Attack Umbreon, if anybody actually does that. Most people won't Leech Seed Tentacruel anyway because everybody runs Liquid Ooze, so I figured I pretty much had the same advantage anyway. Toxic Spikes and Rapid Spin are pretty-self explanatory. Surf is there for STAB and allows for Tentacruel to function as my Infernape counter, as long as said Infernape isn't running Earthquake. Toxic is for Flying/Levitating Pokemon that don't get affected by Toxic Spikes. I pulled the EVs from Obi's Tentacruel. Sorry for stealing them.
Wish, Trace, Utility Counter
Gardevoir @ Leftovers
Trace
Calm (+Sp. Def, -Atk)
252 HP, 4 Def, 252 Sp. Def
~ Wish
~ Thunderbolt
~ Protect
~ Focus Blast
I suppose the 4th slot is a pretty weird place to put the star of the team, but that's where he's ended up. This is also the beginning of how my team begins to greatly differ from Obi's team. In case you haven't noticed, he uses Hippowdon/Skarmory/Tentacruel. Wish is for healing, and Protect is for Toxic Stalling, as well as getting the Wish to heal Gardevoir. Thunderbolt is for opposing Tentacruel, Gyarados, and Water Absorb Pokemon who I decide to switch in on (why hello there, Vaporeon). I'm normally not a fan of Focus Blast, but it's really my own answer against Heatran bar Hippowdon, who gets burned alive by Specs [Fire Move]. Focus Blast is also helpful in dispatching Magnet Pull Pokemon. Ironic, I know! I wish I could fit something like Shadow Ball on here for Shedninja, but I guess I wall any versions without a Bug, Dark or Ghost move, which would be none of them. I guess if I switched in when it switched in and then died to Sandstorm, that's be really cool, but that'll probably never happen. Damn you, Hippowdon.
Wish, Encore, Support, Utility Counter
Clefable @ Leftovers
Magic Guard
Bold (+Def, -Atk)
252 HP, 4 Def, 252 Sp. Def
~ Wish
~ Protect
~ Encore
~ Flamethrower
I love Encore so much I just had to throw it on Clefable's set. It's great to come in on Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic, Calm Mind and the like, because then they have to switch out, or choose to stay in and get forced out by Hippowdon/Skarmory. Magic Guard because it's awesome and means Clefable doesn't mind entry hazards, status or sandstorm, which means it's basically RBY without Toxic. (Did anybody actually use Toxic > T-Wave back then anyway?) Wish + Protect is for more Toxic Stalling, of which I love. Flamethrower is for Grass/Poison types, who my team can otherwise not touch outside of Skarmory, and most of them carry HP Fire anyway. Think mini-Blissey with Encore. What switches into Blissey switched into Clefable. It's useful for scoring an SE hit on Heracross, although I'm kind of screwed after that, as a Guts boosted 80 BP Pursuit takes a healthy chunk of Clefable's health.
Perish Song, Spin Blocker, Sweeper
Arceus @ Spooky Plate
Multitype
Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
252 HP, 100 Def, 96 Sp. Atk, 60 Spd
~ Perish Song
~ Recover
~ Swords Dance
~ Shadow Claw
I decided that I wanted to be able to KO those pesky last Pokemon, so I included Perish Song. Swords Dance + Shadow Claw seems a little awkward to have on a stall team, but it's my best bet against Ghosts, and helps Arceus sweep through a weakened team should I feel like the Stall strategy isn't working. Recover is standard fare, and also because he takes Sandstrom damage. Basically, I took the Ghost Sweeper and the Counter Utility sets and meshed them together, threw in a little bit of what I wanted and this is what I got. I didn't have anything other than an Adamant Arceus, so I made that work for this team. And really, you can't use Arceus and not use one of those sexy base 120 attacking stats. That just doesn't happen.
That's basically it. I feel like Clefable doesn't quite fit and is playing too closely to a Blissey with Encore, but I'm not quite sure of what to do with her. I feel like Gardevoir could drop Protect for a third attacking move or another support move, although I'm not quite sure what for.
When rating this, because basically any Pokemon is fair game, I'd just like to know about how the team functions as a whole and deals with certain threats. You don't need to rate in the mindset of Ubers or any other tier.
Right now, I feel like I have a pretty big Rayquaza/Salamence weakness, as well as a LO/EB Gengar weakness. I can also see weather based teams being annoying, as well as opposing stall. Any suggestions?
History
I've been trolling on Smogon for quite a while, more specifically in the RMT Archive, and I saw Obi's thread. I read through his thoughts on Gardevoir. "Gardevoir was a cool idea I had to stop Heatran (Trace Flash Fire), heal itself on enemy Blissey (trace Natural Cure), and a whole bunch of other fun scenarios with Trace. I still haven't tested that one, but some day, it will make it onto one of my teams. :)"
I only have access to Pokemon Pearl and an Action Reply. Therefore, Pokemon like Bullet Punch Scizor, Wish Blissey and the Pt/HG/SS egg/tutor moves are completely inaccessible to me. I really liked Obi's team because I figured I could recreate it, minus the WishBliss.
That's when I saw his Gardevoir quote.
With that in mind, I decided to make a stall team that was partially based off of Obi's team, partially based off of what I wanted and partially based off of what I needed to use to make the team work. In the end, I came up with 3 Overused Pokemon, 1 Underused Pokemon, 1 Neverused Pokemon and 1 Uber.
Like Obi, no Pokemon had any set spots on my team - I was going to include Gardevoir if I could fit a spot for it on - and therefore I began with the same process as he did. Being relatively new to building stall teams, I decided I'd follow pretty much the same format that he used. With that in mind, I wanted Toxic Spikes, Spikes, Rapid Spin, a Spin Blocker, Wish and Perish Song. Additionally, I wanted a Pokemon with Trace, and Gardevoir happened to fit the bill. I like Porygon2 more, but it's a Pokemon that's more useful on offensively-minded teams.
For those of you who have read his thread, this is set up in an extremely similar manner, as I really liked his formatting. I've included reliable recovery moves (read: no Rest, Leech Seed or Pain Split) next to the name of the Pokemon in brackets. The Pokemon listed are Pokemon that I felt were useful. In the case of Nidoking vs Queen Nidoqueen won out due to better defensive stats, and I eliminated stuff I felt was crap on a stall team like Kabutops.
Toxic Spikes
Cloyster
50 HP | 180 Def | 45 Sp. Def
Drapion
70 HP | 110 Def | 75 Sp. Def
Forretress
75 HP | 140 Def | 60 Sp. Def
Nidoqueen
90 HP | 87 Def | 85 Sp. Def
Tentacruel
80 HP | 65 Def | 120 Sp. Def
Roserade [Synthesis]
60 HP | 55 Def | 105 Sp. Def
I really liked Tentacruel, although I feel that he doesn't have the best defensive typing. Cloyster kind of sucks, so I scratched him out right away. I felt like Roserade's defense was too low and therefore would quickly lose to stuff like CB Scizor, plus I don't have access to HP Fire 70 that so many use to counter steel types. That left Drapion, Forretress, Nidoqueen and Tentacruel.
I liked Drapion's immunity to Psychic and useful(?) resistances to Grass, Poison, Dark, and Ghost. I didn't like the neutrality to Bug and Fighting. I feel like a Poison type should be able to take Signal Beams and Bug Buzzes without keeling over and dieing. But for the time being, I kept Drapion.
I'd always used Forretress on my teams as a spiker, and I honestly wanted something new. I threw him out for just that reason.
Nidoqueen was another Pokemon I'd used extensively. Poison Spikes/SR/Ice Beam/Earth Power actually makes for a pretty decent lead. Ice Beam hit flying types and Earth Power gets those on the ground, and it hits the ubiquitous Skuntank for a good bit of damage. Nidoking does that better, for the record.
So, for Toxic Spikes I was left with Drapion/Nidoqueen/Tentacruel.
Spikes
Cloyster
50 HP | 180 Def | 45 Sp. Def
Deoxys-D
50 HP | 160 Def | 160 Sp. Def
Forretress
75 HP | 140 Def | 60 Sp. Def
Froslass
70 HP | 70 Def | 70 Sp. Def
Roserade [Synthesis]
60 HP | 55 Def | 105 Sp. Def
Skarmory [Roost]
65 HP | 140 Def | 70 Sp. Def
I eliminated Cloyster, Forretress and Roserade for the same reasons as I mentioned earlier. Additionally, in Roserade's situation, I felt that Sleep Power wasn't going to be used often on a team with Toxic Spikes.
Froslass just has generally low defensive stats, and I'm not planning on using a Hail Stall team, so she didn't make the cut.
I also toyed with the idea of using a Brightpowder Cacturne in the sand, but I decided that Gardevoir was the centerpiece of this team, and he doesn't function terribly well in the sand, so I decided I've save sand stalling for another day.
That left me with just Deoxys-D and Skarmory. I liked both of these, so I left them. For a Spiker, I had Deoxys-D/Skarmory.
Rapid Spin
Forretress
75 HP | 140 Def | 60 Sp. Def
Hitmontop
50 HP | 95 Def | 110 Sp. Def
Starmie [Recover]
60 HP | 85 Def | 85 Sp. Def
Tentacruel
80 HP | 65 Def | 120 Sp. Def
This is a really short list, because let's face it: most rapid spinners are crap, because they either have a Stealth Rock weakness or have no way of dealing with Toxic Spikes, or are just set-up, pursuit trap bait. *coughclaydolcough* I really liked the idea of Hitmontop's SR resistance (he's the only one up there with that resistance) but the weakness to Toxic Spikes removed him from competition.
I feel like Starmie's defensive stats are just inferior to...everything else up there. Natural Cure and all if cool, but that's only useful in negating Toxic Spikes, and it takes poison damage on the turn it spins anyway.
Forretress was also eliminated for the reason explained above.
That left Tentacruel as my only possible Rapid Spinner. I was totally okay with this choice: Tentacruel doesn't even need to waste a turn spinning away Toxic Spikes. The lack of recovery kinda bothered me, and the fact that Empoleon walks all over me and sets up like crazy was a little unsettling (remember: no HP Electric/Fighting/Ground here!) as well, but it was the best I had.
Ghosts
Arceus [Recover]
120 HP | 120 Def | 120 Sp. Def
Dusknoir
45 HP | 135 Def | 135 Sp. Def
Giratina
150 HP | 120 Def | 120 Sp. Def
Spiritomb
50 HP | 108 Def | 108 Sp. Def
I felt like Dusknoir was an inferior Spiritomb because of the typing and slightly lower HP, so I cast him away. Really, Arceus, Giratina or Spiritomb could all function equally well as my ghost, so I left all three of them.
Wish
Clefable [Softboiled, Wish]
95 HP | 73 Def | 90 Sp. Def
Gardevoir [Wish]
68 HP | 65 Def | 115 Sp. Def
Jirachi [Wish]
100 HP | 100 Def | 100 Sp. Def
Latias [Wish]
80 HP | 90 Def | 130 Sp. Def
Togekiss [Softboiled, Roost, Wish]
85 HP | 95 Def | 115 Sp. Def
Umbreon [Wish]
95 HP | 110 Def | 130 Sp. Def
Vaporeon [Wish, Aqua Ring]
130 HP | 60 Def | 95 Sp. Def
Wigglytuff [Wish]
140 HP | 45 Def | 50 Sp. Def
This was a really long wish, although I took out Wigglytuff immediately because it pretty much sucks. I figured that since I already was using Tentacruel, I wanted to avoid compounding my electric weakness, so Togekiss and Vaporeon got the boot (which was hard for me to do, 'cause I love both of them). I figured that Jirachi wasn't going to be much use besides sponging random dragon attacks, and I already possibly had Skarmory to do that. I just don't really like Jirachi. Umbreon's not a very established wall, and has the same bug weakness as Gardevoir. Latias and Gardevoir share a pursuit weakness, so she got kicked out too.
That left Clefable/Gardevoir. The latter was going on the team anyway, but I already had an extra spot from combining Tentacruel as both a Rapid Spinner and Toxic Spiker, so I figured that if it came down to it, I could definitely use Clefable. Both Gardevoir, Tentacruel and my Ghost resist fighting attacks, and all appreciate a Ghost immunity, so I figured her typing fit really well with the team.
Perish Song
Altaria [Roost]
75 HP | 90 Def | 105 Sp. Def
Arceus [Recover]
120 HP | 120 Def | 120 Sp. Def
Celebi [Recover]
100 HP | 100 Def | 100 Sp. Def
Dewgong
90 HP | 80 Def | 95 Sp. Def
Lapras
130 HP | 80 Def | 95 Sp. Def
Politoad
90 HP | 75 Def | 100 Sp. Def
Wigglytuff [Wish]
140 HP | 45 Def | 50 Sp. Def
I immediately decided that Arceus would function as both my Ghost and Perish Songer, so I didn't really have much of a thought process on this besides "wow, everybody on this list either sucks or has an Electric/Fighting/Pursuit weakness."
That left:
TS - Tentacruel
S - Skarmory/Deoxys-D
RS - Tentacruel
SB - Arceus
W - Clefable/Gardevoir
PS - Arceus
Trace - Gardevoir
I chose Skarmory over Deoxys because of the 1 uber rule. As for Clefable/Gardevoir, I picked Clefable, but decided I'd keep Wish in Gardevoir anyway just in case one of them fainted or there was an opponent that I didn't like. That meant my team now looked like this:
Tentacruel/Skarmory/Arceus/Clefable/Gardevoir/_________
With the spare slot, I decided to take another leaf out of Obi's book and pick Hippowdon. Two of my team members were already immune to Sandstorm, and with two wishers, I felt like it wasn't going to be a big problem. Additionally, Hippowdon gets SR and makes a great lead, and has Slack Off.
The team now looked like this:
Hippowdon/Skarmory/Tentacruel/Gardevoir/Clefable/Arceus
The Team
Lead, SR, Roar, Physical Wall
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Sand Stream
Impish (+ Def, - Sp. Atk)
252 HP, 40 Atk, 176 Def, 40 Sp. Def
~ Stealth Rock
~ Roar
~ Slack Off
~ Earthquake
The EV spread is slightly different from the only Obi used because I wanted to ensure that KO on those Fire and Steel types that I know my friends like to use. Stealth Rock is self-explanatory, and combines really well with Roar to shuffle the opposing team around and garner some passive damage. 12.5% + 6.25& = 18.75% per turn. That's equivalent to two layers of Spikes. Earthquake is because it's great STAB and helps remedy the Tyranitar problem a bit, and Slack Off because it's a good recovery move. I suppose I have a pretty big Gengar weakness without Crunch, and I do have two Wishers, so I suppose I could nix Slack Off in favor of Crunch. I'll have to do some playtesting on that one at the tournament.
Spikes, Roar, Physical Wall
Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Keen Eye
Impish (+Def, - Sp. Atk)
252 HP, 212 Def, 40 Sp. Def, 4 Spd
~ Brave Bird
~ Roar
~ Spikes
~ Roost
Roar over Whirlwind simply because this is in-game and I already had a Brave Bird Impish Skarmory without Whirlwind. Spikes because that's why Skarm is on the team, and Roost for good recovery. Shed Shell over Leftovers because of Wish and the fact that Magzezone, Magneton, and Dugtrio (sometimes combined with Gravity) are too big of a risk to take. Probopass too, as Skarmory really can't touch him, although I really doubt I'll see him. Also, there's an item clause of no more than 4 of the same item, and Arceus uses Spooky Plate and everybody else needs Leftovers to negate Sandstorm damage.
Toxic Spikes, Rapid Spin, Toxic, Special Sponge
Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Clear Body
Calm (+Sp. Def, -Atk)
252 HP, 120 Def, 136 Sp. Def
~ Toxic Spikes
~ Rapid Spin
~ Surf
~ Toxic
Originally I wanted Liquid Ooze, but I couldn't seem the breed a 31/x/31/31/31/x Calm Liquid Ooze Tentacool. Instead, I got Clear Body, which I guess helps against Mean Look + Sand Attack Umbreon, if anybody actually does that. Most people won't Leech Seed Tentacruel anyway because everybody runs Liquid Ooze, so I figured I pretty much had the same advantage anyway. Toxic Spikes and Rapid Spin are pretty-self explanatory. Surf is there for STAB and allows for Tentacruel to function as my Infernape counter, as long as said Infernape isn't running Earthquake. Toxic is for Flying/Levitating Pokemon that don't get affected by Toxic Spikes. I pulled the EVs from Obi's Tentacruel. Sorry for stealing them.
Wish, Trace, Utility Counter
Gardevoir @ Leftovers
Trace
Calm (+Sp. Def, -Atk)
252 HP, 4 Def, 252 Sp. Def
~ Wish
~ Thunderbolt
~ Protect
~ Focus Blast
I suppose the 4th slot is a pretty weird place to put the star of the team, but that's where he's ended up. This is also the beginning of how my team begins to greatly differ from Obi's team. In case you haven't noticed, he uses Hippowdon/Skarmory/Tentacruel. Wish is for healing, and Protect is for Toxic Stalling, as well as getting the Wish to heal Gardevoir. Thunderbolt is for opposing Tentacruel, Gyarados, and Water Absorb Pokemon who I decide to switch in on (why hello there, Vaporeon). I'm normally not a fan of Focus Blast, but it's really my own answer against Heatran bar Hippowdon, who gets burned alive by Specs [Fire Move]. Focus Blast is also helpful in dispatching Magnet Pull Pokemon. Ironic, I know! I wish I could fit something like Shadow Ball on here for Shedninja, but I guess I wall any versions without a Bug, Dark or Ghost move, which would be none of them. I guess if I switched in when it switched in and then died to Sandstorm, that's be really cool, but that'll probably never happen. Damn you, Hippowdon.
Wish, Encore, Support, Utility Counter
Clefable @ Leftovers
Magic Guard
Bold (+Def, -Atk)
252 HP, 4 Def, 252 Sp. Def
~ Wish
~ Protect
~ Encore
~ Flamethrower
I love Encore so much I just had to throw it on Clefable's set. It's great to come in on Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic, Calm Mind and the like, because then they have to switch out, or choose to stay in and get forced out by Hippowdon/Skarmory. Magic Guard because it's awesome and means Clefable doesn't mind entry hazards, status or sandstorm, which means it's basically RBY without Toxic. (Did anybody actually use Toxic > T-Wave back then anyway?) Wish + Protect is for more Toxic Stalling, of which I love. Flamethrower is for Grass/Poison types, who my team can otherwise not touch outside of Skarmory, and most of them carry HP Fire anyway. Think mini-Blissey with Encore. What switches into Blissey switched into Clefable. It's useful for scoring an SE hit on Heracross, although I'm kind of screwed after that, as a Guts boosted 80 BP Pursuit takes a healthy chunk of Clefable's health.
Perish Song, Spin Blocker, Sweeper
Arceus @ Spooky Plate
Multitype
Adamant (+Atk, -Sp. Atk)
252 HP, 100 Def, 96 Sp. Atk, 60 Spd
~ Perish Song
~ Recover
~ Swords Dance
~ Shadow Claw
I decided that I wanted to be able to KO those pesky last Pokemon, so I included Perish Song. Swords Dance + Shadow Claw seems a little awkward to have on a stall team, but it's my best bet against Ghosts, and helps Arceus sweep through a weakened team should I feel like the Stall strategy isn't working. Recover is standard fare, and also because he takes Sandstrom damage. Basically, I took the Ghost Sweeper and the Counter Utility sets and meshed them together, threw in a little bit of what I wanted and this is what I got. I didn't have anything other than an Adamant Arceus, so I made that work for this team. And really, you can't use Arceus and not use one of those sexy base 120 attacking stats. That just doesn't happen.
That's basically it. I feel like Clefable doesn't quite fit and is playing too closely to a Blissey with Encore, but I'm not quite sure of what to do with her. I feel like Gardevoir could drop Protect for a third attacking move or another support move, although I'm not quite sure what for.
When rating this, because basically any Pokemon is fair game, I'd just like to know about how the team functions as a whole and deals with certain threats. You don't need to rate in the mindset of Ubers or any other tier.
Right now, I feel like I have a pretty big Rayquaza/Salamence weakness, as well as a LO/EB Gengar weakness. I can also see weather based teams being annoying, as well as opposing stall. Any suggestions?
