Attack of the thorny octopus'

[gaddster03]

Hello Smogon this is my second rmt. It uses a defensive coreof ferrothron and tentacruel. Together they cover each others weaknesses resisting many neutral attacks meant for each other as well. The only exception being ground which two of my team are immune to. What i love about this core so far is that not only has it been severly pissing off hyper offensive and balanced teams, it also seems to be really good against stall.

So anyway on to the team:

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock

The first part of my thorny octopus core. There is a reason this guy is so high in the usage charts. A great defensive typing with only 2 weaknesses one of which is halved in rain. The other being resisted by 3 members of my team. I did try to find someone else to use stealth rock on but didn't know which pokemon to replace so i ended up using it over protect. Spikes is to help turn those 2hkos into ohkos it also helps agaisnt stall when i get rid of their god damn rapid spinner. I might change leftovers to rocky helmet as i lack a spin blocker (again couldn't fit one in) Gyro ball is preffered to power whip as i feel it does a lot more damage against those dragons i like to wall.

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Toxic
- Substitute

The second half to my defensive core. This guy although has quite small defenses (i feel i need some more special bulk as it is taking more damage than i would like) with rain dish and lefties it really stalls. This guy helps me criplle walls with toxic, and any steel types or physical sweepers don't like taking a double stab scald with 30%burn chance. Sub damage is recovered in 2 turns and finally, rapid spin the only reason why this is not something a bit more bulky. Once i get rid of a stall teams cleric and their rapid spinner this guy can toxic stall really well. I can often win games by getting 18% damage from 1 toxic and leech seed and then hazard damage from switches.

Politoed @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
- Focus Blast
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]

This summons the rain, not needed to win it is useful for tentacruel recovery and nit letting other weather teams,especially sun have an easy time. I chose specs as it is the set i have found to be most useful for this team (defensive offers nice utility, but i find that double stab specs hydro pumps a really nice offensive option for the team).

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Rock Polish
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]

My replacement for tornadus. I have to say i have been using this a lot. It wrecks so many teams once counters are gone. 60%boost from life orb and sheer force makes this guy so powerful being able to 3hko blissey (without rocks) although it isn't to likely as focus blast hates me. It also has decent bulk i find giving it time to set up a rock polish and wreck. I thing i should change nature to modest though as i feel i am lacking a little in power even with 60% boosts. I think this could be replaced by agility thundurus as i lack electric attacks right now leaving me weak to bulky waters my only move being hp grass on toed. What are your guy's thoughts??

Haxorus @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Dual Chop
- Superpower

My scarfer of choice. I felt my team was lacking a real physical powerhouse. Haxaorus huge base 147 attack offers this, it is great to use as a scarfer as the attack is so high it can still do a lot of damage without any boosts from life orb or ddance etc. Generally i use this guy to revenge weakened threats for my team, or once those pesky steels are gone in late game i go on an outrage with outrage to get those last kills. The passive damage from toxic leech seed and hazards really help with late game outraging.

Gyarados @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Ice Fang

My second physical attacker, i chose intimidate over moxie as it allows me to get extra switch opportunities to set up ddance. These switches also help rack up hazard damage changing 2hkos into ohkos. I chose gyarados as i wanted something to help counter tentacruel's ground weakness should landorus die. It also helps with tenta's physical defence being less than it's special defense. Waterfall hits extremely hard in rain and the 20% flinch chance and better accuracy amke it a better choice than aqua tail. Stone edge and ice fang offer similar coverage, i just didn't know what to put on there, i hate 2 turn moves as even though bounce hits grass types they can easily just switch out to a steel or rock type. Ice fang hits these grass types as well as dragons, and has a 20% chance of doing something annoying. Stone edge is for fire and bug types especially volcarona who i feel i am a little weak to.

I know there will be problems with this team as i am new to competitive battling. So any rates will be tested as you have a lot more expierince then me :).

(I will do pictures in a minute i am on my phone atm)

 

[TheStriker]

Hi

Solid team with a great defensive core. One big weakness I see to this team is Jolteon. Jolteon is a strange pokemon to be weak too. The combo of Hidden Power [Ice] and Thunder is a big threat this team struggle with. In addition, Jolteon is almost always paired up with a Fighting type like Terrakion or Keldeo which will punish Ferrothorn for walling the little thunder dog. Haxorus can revenge kill it with Earthquake but they will most likely see it coming. I recommend switching your current scarfer to a Scarf Salamence | Jolly Nature | 252 Spe / 252 Atk / 4 SDef | Dragon Claw, Outrage, Aqua Tail, and Earthquake. MoxieMence is deadly in our current metagame where set-up moves are hard to pull off. When it revenge kills something like +1 Dragonite, it will recieve a attack boost where it can sweep easily. Dragon is a awesome nuetral attack typing which lets it sweep entire teams if you get past confusion. Hope this helps! Great team! However, I think your synergy needs a bit more work.

 

[gaddster03]

ok thank you i will try that out. As with synergy i am quite new so i amy need to adjust things like that but thanks for the rate

 

[gaddster03]

Hey, nice team, though I have some suggestions that (well, should :P) can help your team be more successful. First off, I'd just go with a Modest Nature on Politoed, since Quiet doesn't accomplish much, you just end up losing Speed for no reason and you will be unable to outspeed Scizor and OHKO it with STAB Hydro Pump. Next, I'd go with a Substitute + Dragon Dance set on Gyarados. With your current Life Orb Gyarados set with Stone Edge and Ice Fang as coverage moves, you'll have a harder time to set up against more defensive opponents, such as Jirachi and Jellicent. Jellicent is a big pain to non-Substitute Gyarados, since it can just use Will-O-Wisp and cripple your Gyarados while you set-up. With a Substitute + Dragon Dance set, you can avoid this and ease your setting-up, allowing you to sweep more efficiently. Instead of Stone Edge and Ice Fang, go with Substitute and Bounce. Bounce is a great STAB move that lets you kill of Celebi and Breloom, which should come in handy. With the Substitute you can also set-up on Breloom, who would Spore you otherwise. For other changes, I'd recommend a Choice Scarf Garchomp (see set below) over your current Choice Scarf Haxorus. Garchomp does a similar job as Haxorus, but it lets you deal with Sand teams more easily, and adds an Electric immunity to your team, which lets you deal with Choice Scarf Thundurus-T with more ease. It also has a Base 102 Speed stat, letting it revenge-kill a lot more opponents than Haxorus could, notably Choice Scarf MoxieMence Salamence, Choice Scarf Jirachi and Choice Scarf Thundurus-T. It gets the STAB Earthquake, which hits harder than Haxorus' Earthquake. Its moveset is similar to Haxorus', but instead of Superpower it can utilize Aqua Tail, which gets boosted on your Rain team. It hits Skarmory and Bronzong harder, and lets you get rid of Gliscor. That's all I have to say, good luck.

Choice Scarf Garchomp

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
- Dual Chop

the only problem is that i feel bounce doesn't hit those grass and fighting types that well as people can easily switch out after i bounce up. I might try sub dd waterfall and stone edge though.

I will try the chomp suggestion thank you, however i do like the ability to hit levitating pokemon with haxorus' earthquake