Notes:
- All changes will be in RED and in itallics.
- Pokemon which aren't doing as well as I would like them to or I think could be improved will be in Orange.
- Pokemon Synergy will be in Purple.
Introduction-Background:
Hello everyone. I was just testing a few things on shoddy a while back and I ended up making this team. It uses a twist of a common machamp lead and a couple of sweepers. Overall it's a Bulky Offensive team that is geared to take out the opposing lead and work off the opposition team from there. I usually do a lot of switching and my aim is to take out the oppositions main attacking threats then to setup. If I'm facing a stall team I try to take out key members and exploit holes.
Team building proccess:
First I started off with a lead. I noticed that I have never used a machamp lead before so I started with that and it worked pretty well. The increase of gliscor leads and the fact that there are lots of focus sash pokemon made me change the moveset a little bit.
I then realised that I wanted a pokemon that could take care of special attacking threats and also carried a surprise value. I started off with the smogon 'bait tyranitar' but I decided to turn it into a scarfer to revenge kill the many psychic types of ou. It also had good type coverage and a nice mix movepool allowing me to hit salamence, scizor, breloom and other common ou pokemon super effectively. I realised that my tyranitar was weak to scizor's bullet punch as I lacked bulk so I decided to pair it with rotom. They also had good syergy and type coverage.
I then decided to look at sweepers. I chose two of the metagame's most powerfull stat uppers/sweepers, a CM latias and an SD lucario. They both had decent type coverage and could take resisted hits decently well for each other and setup. They have worked okay but have not been the results I have achieved with these pokemon in previous teams. These two are the main concern for me as they are often defeated by scizor, gliscor/gyarados which are a common sight. Latias is probably the weakest member in my team, which i regret to say. However, Lucario is a great asset against stall, often weakening and finishing off many walls.
My final member, Swampert. Swampert was orriginally a mix pert with stealth rock but since lucario and latias couldn't really finish off the job I have switched to a curse pert. It has been surprisingly powerful and has saved me quite a few times :P. It ripes apart stall teams with ease and, after a few curses, ripes apart offense based teams as they are not geared to take the powerful attacks constantly.
I have recently changed latias to a choice scarfed set with dragon pulse, tyranitar to a dd set and lucario to a wall breaking breloom.
In (more) depth:
Machamp @ Lum Berry
No Guard
Adamant
252 HP / 160 Atk / 96 Sp.Def
~Dynamic Punch
~Bullet Punch
~Ice Punch
~Payback
I took a standard machamp lead and geared it to anti leading futher. As I dropped substitute I outspeed other machamp leads and get a dynamic punch fired off at them for sure. Bullet punch is there for the sole reason of beating focus sash leads while limiting them to only one move (which machamp can usually live). Ice punch is for the ever more common gliscor leads and any latias/salamence who come in and try to setup on me after i have fulfilled my anti leading duties. I can usually switch this and keep it for later as it has a high amount of health and can check tyranitar and a few other pokemon. All in all, it is used to defeat the opponents lead while trying to prevent it doing as least as possible, usually only setting up stealth rocks or getting in one attack. Any explosions go to rotom and metagross who give me trouble aswell.
Synergy: Psychic goes to t-tar and flying to rotom. Usually takes out enemy leads (besides moltres and metagross) which rotom deals with well.
Tyranitar @ Babiri Berry
Sand Stream
Jolly
252 Att / 252 Spe / 6 Hp
Moves:
~Dragon Dance
~Crunch
~Stone Edge
~Fire Punch
A dragon dance tyranitar. This thing sets up when it gets a chance and can wreak havoc. Isn't doing great but it sweeps once in a while. I changed this pokemon, as suggested by a rater, because latias is a much better revenge killer. Dragon dance t-tar also scares off a lot of special attackers allowing me to get a dd or two. It also takes ghost/dark attacks (which are commonly choiced) aimed at rotom/latias and can setup as they switch. Jolly is used over adament to outspeed major threats. Fire punch because I despise scizor but Heatran, commonly paired with scizor, might give me some trouble.
Synergy: Fighting goes to rotom while he takes ghost attacks aimed at rotom. Ground, bug and grass go to rotom while latias can take most water attacks with ease. Steel goes to rotom.
Latias @ Choice Scarf
Levitate
Modest
252 Sp.Att / 252 Spe / 6 Hp
Moves:
~Trick
~ThunderBolt
~Dragon Pulse
~Surf
Choice scarf latias, this thing is a godsend to this team. It gives me that piece of mind lategame when I see a mixmence or something that could potentially sweep my team. I'm still considering running grass knot + hp fire over t-bolt and surf to take out the main threats but I like to be able to kill gyarados and heatran respectivelly.
Synergy: Ice and dragon attacks go to rotom and swampert who take them reasonably well. Ghost and Dark attacks are sponged by tyranitar. Dragons don't usually switch in on this though :P.
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Poisen Heal
Impish
236 HP / 248 Def / 24 Spe
Moves:
~Substitute
~Leech Seed
~Focus Punch
~Spore
Breloom is a great wall breaker. He rips stall teams apart and helps me in lots of situations. The added bulk of this set is also a plus allowing breloom to act as a check for lots of pokemon late game. Spore is just a fantastic move which I save for just the right moment but I usually substitute first to know who my counter/check is and deal with it so spore can be used to help me sweep later on.
Swampert @ Chesto Berry
Torrent
Careful
252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Sp.Def
Moves:
~Curse
~Rest
~Avelanche
~EarthQuake
My favourite pokemon on this team and it fits in surprisingly well. My pokemon core usually checks common offensive threats so swampert usually only has to deal with weakened pokemon and pokemon who can't pose much of a threat. Rest and chesto berry is chosen as swampert can take a draco meteor (at full health) rest up and presume to set up and sweep. Also walls cannot harm me as rest gets rid of harmful status, like burn and poison hence allowing me to clean up late game. After a curse I can also predict explosions from pokemon like heatran and azelf and just rest, living it, leaving them totally incapable of harming me.
Synergy: Grassknot goes to every member of my team (besides machamp). While other grass attacks go mainly to latias.
Rotom (Heat Form) @ Leftovers
Levitate
Bold
252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Bold
252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Moves:
~Rest
~Sleep Talk
~Thunder-Bolt
~Wil-o-Wisp
A rest-talk rotom. Used as a status absorber and to check breloom (t-bolt breaks the sub). Also I prefer rest's more solid recovery as appose to pain split. This is my check/counter to many steel types. Wil-o-wisp helps me shutdown pursuit users who switch in and many other physical threats that would otherwise be a pain to this team. It's kind of like my glue pokemon :).
~Rest
~Sleep Talk
~Thunder-Bolt
~Wil-o-Wisp
A rest-talk rotom. Used as a status absorber and to check breloom (t-bolt breaks the sub). Also I prefer rest's more solid recovery as appose to pain split. This is my check/counter to many steel types. Wil-o-wisp helps me shutdown pursuit users who switch in and many other physical threats that would otherwise be a pain to this team. It's kind of like my glue pokemon :).
Synergy: Ghost and Dark attacks mainly go to Tyranitar.
Cons of this team for me:
- No Stealth Rock
- Nothing that can really easily switch into draco meteor's and outrages however with latias the pokemon themselves aren't a big problem and I can usually win when facing dragons in a 1v1 situation.
Thank You For Reading and please rate! Former Pokemon:
Change #1:
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Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Sand Stream
Jolly
120 Atk / 136 Sp.Att / 252 Spe
Moves:
~EarthQuake
~Crunch
~Fire Blast
~Ice Beam
Choice scarf tyranitar. A surprise but getting more common. It still manages to effectivly check many offensive threats that would otherwise give my team trouble. It can sponge a shadow ball and take a psychic or two easily getting it in on many special sweepers and crunch as they expect to outspeed. It always seems to do something for me.
Was over my current DD t-tar.
Latias @ Leftovers
Levitate
Timid
252 Sp.Att / 252 Spe / 6 Hp
Moves:
~Calm Mind
~Recover
~Dragon Pulse
~Surf
Let me be honest here. Latias can, sometimes, do it's job well and eliminate quite a few pokemon but I always get a blissey, snorlax or scizor popping up to prevent my attempts at sweeping. I would really love a special sweeper who isn't pursuit weak here so I have no fear to switch out. I can handle blissey and snorlax but when they switch in I usually hesitate sending lucario out as it hates getting t-waved and cb moves hurt, snorlax's won't be switching out either if it get a curse up. It might just be my choice of moves, I'll be trying hidden power FIRE over surf and see what happens, I don't think it would work though as it would be a game of prediction which could cost me latias.
Was over my current Scarf latias.
Lucario @ Life Orb
Steadfast
Adament
252 Att / 252 Spe / 6 Hp
Moves:
~Swords Dance
~Close Combat
~Crunch
~Extreme Speed
Lucario does extremely well when I am facing stall teams, late game. Quite a few pokemon completely wall this set, most commonly gyarados and gliscor, and quite a few pokemon reliably check me, scarf rotom as an example. When facing offensive teams I usually don't find the time to setup and it doesn't always work out if I do. I was considering to, at some point, run a mixape in this slot and I will playtest it out soon. It will be a physically based mixape (wall breaker) which, I hope, can break some walls without prior setup and can allow for latias to more easily sweep or let me switch latias for a clean up pokemon, like an agility metagross, however my team would become exceedingly physical so I would appreciate some idea's here.
Ground and fire go to latias while the (more stronger) fighting attacks go to rotom. Swampert and rotom also take fire and ground attacks respectively.
Was over my current Breloom.
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Change #1:
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Sand Stream
Jolly
120 Atk / 136 Sp.Att / 252 Spe
Moves:
~EarthQuake
~Crunch
~Fire Blast
~Ice Beam
Choice scarf tyranitar. A surprise but getting more common. It still manages to effectivly check many offensive threats that would otherwise give my team trouble. It can sponge a shadow ball and take a psychic or two easily getting it in on many special sweepers and crunch as they expect to outspeed. It always seems to do something for me.
Was over my current DD t-tar.
Levitate
Timid
252 Sp.Att / 252 Spe / 6 Hp
Moves:
~Calm Mind
~Recover
~Dragon Pulse
~Surf
Let me be honest here. Latias can, sometimes, do it's job well and eliminate quite a few pokemon but I always get a blissey, snorlax or scizor popping up to prevent my attempts at sweeping. I would really love a special sweeper who isn't pursuit weak here so I have no fear to switch out. I can handle blissey and snorlax but when they switch in I usually hesitate sending lucario out as it hates getting t-waved and cb moves hurt, snorlax's won't be switching out either if it get a curse up. It might just be my choice of moves, I'll be trying hidden power FIRE over surf and see what happens, I don't think it would work though as it would be a game of prediction which could cost me latias.
Was over my current Scarf latias.
Steadfast
Adament
252 Att / 252 Spe / 6 Hp
Moves:
~Swords Dance
~Close Combat
~Crunch
~Extreme Speed
Lucario does extremely well when I am facing stall teams, late game. Quite a few pokemon completely wall this set, most commonly gyarados and gliscor, and quite a few pokemon reliably check me, scarf rotom as an example. When facing offensive teams I usually don't find the time to setup and it doesn't always work out if I do. I was considering to, at some point, run a mixape in this slot and I will playtest it out soon. It will be a physically based mixape (wall breaker) which, I hope, can break some walls without prior setup and can allow for latias to more easily sweep or let me switch latias for a clean up pokemon, like an agility metagross, however my team would become exceedingly physical so I would appreciate some idea's here.
Ground and fire go to latias while the (more stronger) fighting attacks go to rotom. Swampert and rotom also take fire and ground attacks respectively.
-SideNote- Jolly lucario with crunch poses a trouble as it can ohko weakened rotom, outspeed my lucario and 2ko swampert and latias. I also don't have something that can take boosted outrages and starmie poses a threat to this team as it can 2ko EVERY pokemon and poses a large threat to my sweepers. I'm suually forced to try and work around these threats by letting a pokemon die! -SideNote-
Was over my current Breloom.
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