Hey guys, I'm still fairly new at the meta-game, but I've been playing with this team for a while and I feel like I've kinda hit a wall, so to speak. This team has maxed out in the mid-upper 1300's and I'm not sure exactly how to improve it. Part of it is probably just that I'm a relatively inexperienced player, but part of it must be the team. Any errors that seem obvious to a vet, I promise, are not intentional.
This team is centered around Agility/Baton Pass Zapdos and offensive monsters in Charizard-Y and Kyurem-B.
Team at a glance:
Zap: Lead, Baton-Passer, Defensive.
Zard: Elite Special Attacker.
Kyu-B: Mixed Attacker, Coverage.
Azu: Defensive Sponge, Dragon Switch-in, Physical Attacker.
Drill: Rapid Spinner, Steel-Type, Physical Attacker.
Chomp: SR/Utilities.
1. Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Agility
- Roost
- Baton Pass
My team is really built around Zapdos as a baton-passer of speed. The 252 EVs in HP give it enough bulk to avoid getting OHKOed by a lot of moves except, notably, Stone Edge, and therefore time to get off an Agility and a Baton Pass (or a Roost). Roost is for reliable recovery, and Thunderbolt is just a great STAB move and prevents Zapdos from becoming Taunt fodder, like it was when I ran Toxic on this set instead of T-Bolt. Leftovers gives good passive recovery while Zapdos is setting up. This Zapdos is also just a generally good defensive mon, and can typically stomach Ice-type moves enough to get an Agility/Baton Pass or Roost in.
2. Mega Charizard-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
Nature: Modest
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Pulse
- Solarbeam
- Roost
If you can remove Charizard’s (relatively few, honestly) checks and set him up with a +2 Speed from Zapdos’ Agility/Baton Pass combo, Goodbye. Flamethrower is an accurate and powerful STAB move that can hit pretty much anything for big damage under sunlight. Solarbeam is obviously there to deal with Water/Rock/Ground-types that happen to be the only types that resist Fire outside of Dragon. Personally, I have fun playing mind games with opponents trying to guess if I’ll use Solarbeam in preparation for a switch-in or if I’ll just go with Flamethrower. Dragon Pulse is there as a solution to Dragon types, essentially, like Latis, Zard-X, and Garchomp. Roost is reliable recovery and helps deal with entry damage due to SR. With this Zard, it’s occasionally fun to not mega-evolve until after a check like Tyranitar, Hippowden, or Politoed come in expecting to ruin your Solarbeam with their weather abilities. Zard-Y is the big punch of this team, and he isn't shabby defensively either.
3. Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
Nature: Mild
EVs: 20 Atk / 252 SpA / 236 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt
- HP Fire
If something can’t be beaten by Zard-Y, typically Kyurem-B can beat it. It is also a devastating mon if its checks (Steel- and Fairy-types, for the most part) are destroyed and it is set up with a +2 Speed from Zapdos. Ice Beam and Outrage are there for STAB (and just being great moves). Fusion Bolt is for unsuspecting Water-types that try to switch in against it, and HP Fire I run on this set specifically because I hate Ferrothorn so god damn much, and HP Fire can OHKO reliably it if it has even the tiniest amount of damage already taken. I've tried running other coverage moves besides HP Fire on Kyurem-B but nothing else has been as important or useful. Kyurem-B is typically not someone I rely on in life or death situations due to its weakness to Steel-, Rock-, and Fighting-types, in addition to Life Orb damage, but it is integral to my team overall due to its great coverage and Mixed Attack.
4. Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Superpower/Power-Up Punch
This Azumarill, due to its EV spread and Vest, can stomach a lot of hits. In some cases, it’s simply used as a sponge any time I need to avoid taking a super-effective hit on someone else. With its bulk and excellent typing, it’s a good check to a whole heckuva lot of things. With its ability, Huge Power, its Attack stat is insane and makes it a serious offensive threat as well. I’m not totally satisfied with this set, so I’m happy to receive suggestions on how to fix it. Waterfall and Play Rough are strong physical STAB moves, which make this mon a great counter to Steel- and Dragon-types. Knock Off, I have found incredibly useful against bulky types that rely on Leftovers for recovery. It’s Fairy-typing makes it a great switch-in to the Fighting-types that really hurt Kyurem-B and Excadrill (next). Specifically, this Azumarill is the only reliable check to Mega-Medicham that I've found personally, and as far as I can remember the only thing that can OHKO it is a boosted Leaf Storm from Serperior. I have considered Belly Drum Azumarill instead of this set, but not enough to have tried it.
5. Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
When I first started playing the Meta-game not too long ago, I truly had no idea what I was doing. I still have no idea what I’m doing for the most part, but I now know the power of SR. Rocks are a pain in the butt to Kyurem-B, Zapdos, and ESPECIALLY Zard-Y. Excadrill is fast enough to get off a Rapid Spin when needed. Air Balloon prevents it from accidentally switching into an EQ and getting KOed, since not all Excadrills carry it. In particular, Excadrill is a great switch-in to a Stalling Glisor. Its Steel-typing makes it an excellent partner to Azumarill, since the Poison-types that check it don’t affect Excadrill. EQ needs no explanation other than that it is especially useful on this Excadrill since Mold Breaker lets it affect Rotom-W, Latis, etc. Rock Slide is more reliable than Stone Edge in terms of accuracy. And Iron Head is pretty much the only thing I’ve found that scares CM-Clefable. The Air Balloon helps this Excadrill beat other non-Ballooned Excadrills and Tyranitars.
6. Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
I’m not overly attached to Garchomp, but it has its uses, and is therefore used as a utility piece in my team. It’s can out-speed a lot of mons and can therefore usually get an SR off before switching out/dying. Dragon Tail can be fun for racking up SR damage on teams that don’t have Clefable and is a solid pseudo-haze move. EQ is a great STAB move. Swords Dance is there… I’m not totally sure why. I should probably replace it with Dragon Claw or something. But Garchomp is a very useful counter to Scizor’s Bullet Punch (this Garchomp can stomach a +2 Atk Scizor’s Bullet Punch, which is extremely useful when you take Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin damage into account) and Bisharp’s Sucker Punch. Swords Dance is also just a useful move when you know something faster is going to get killed from Rocky Helmet/Rough Skin damage and therefore don’t want to waste a move.
This team's Nemeses:
- If Azumarill is dead, I have a hard time beating Heatran reliably even though Garchomp and Excadrill have EQ, and I have nothing else that can stop a Mega-Medicham in its tracks (that I can remember).
- If Charizard-Y is dead, Mach Punch Breloom and Contrary Serperior (Leaf Storm+Dragon Pulse) decimate this team.
- If Excadrill is dead, bulky Stall teams with Toxic murder me.
- If Garchomp is dead, Bullet Punch Mega-Scizor gives this team a lot of trouble.
- If Azumarill is dead, opposing Belly Drum versions of Azumarill give this team a whole lot of trouble, since Azumarill is bulky enough that nothing can really OHKO it without boosts, which Belly Drum Azumarill would not give you the time to take.
- The Ferrothorn/Heatran duo gives me all kinds of trouble: While Azumarill can beat Heatran and Charizard-Y can beat Ferrothorn, if Ferrothorn switches into Azumarill's Waterfall it takes little damage and Azumarill takes damage itself from Iron Barbs, and if Heatran switches in to Zard-Y's Flamethrower, it just gets a boost from Flash Fire. Maybe this is a universal problem, but it's stumped me.
- Fighting-types in general are hard to handle with this team, since a lot of them also have Stone Edge to handle Zap/Zard-Y.
- In general, this team has a speed problem if Zapdos fails to pass a speed boost to my sweeper, or that sweeper is forced to switch out, specifically Zard-Y since it's only at 236 Speed.
- Mega Metagross, in general. That thing is a straight up beast.
Suggestions that might be helpful:
- Fitting a priority move with good coverage into this team would be huge and solve a lot of problems (maybe Aqua Tail Azumarill?).
- A solution to Ferrothorn/Heatran, if there is one.
- Maybe a cleric, since this team falls to bulky Toxic Stall teams easily, as well as to Burns (particularly on Kyurem-B, since it can't afford to take passive damage in addition to Life Orb damage and possible entry hazard damage).
- A back up Defogger/Rapid Spinner if Excadrill fails, since my team is so vulnerable to it, or something that is less easily OHKO'd by EQ and Fire moves.
- A way to deal with Fighting/Rock types (maybe a Psychic-type?).
- Somewhere to add Speed without sacrificing significantly in other areas. Sacrificing bulk for Speed on Charizard is an option, but I'd like to look elsewhere first.
- Maybe a different EV spread for Garchomp, if it isn't replaced outright, since I don't really use it for Offense that much.
Vague ideas that I've had but don't know enough to evaluate:
- Focus Blast on Zard-Y over Dragon Pulse would fix my Heatran problem, but it would leave my team outside of Azu pretty vulnerable to Dragons.
- Specially Defensive Jirachi might be an interesting SR replacement for Garchomp.
Pokemon I have previously tried and replaced (but am open to trying again):
- Mega-Venasaur with Toxic+Venoshock+Roar.
- Sucker Punch Bisharp.
- Starmie, for Rapid Spin.
- Mega-Altaria, since I liked its typing and its cleric capability, but it took up the Mega slot which I wanted for Zard-Y.
- Talonflame for its speed, but it was too frail for my liking.
- Latias, as a Defogger.
Final Notes:
- I would very much prefer to keep Baton Pass Zapdos if that's at all possible, since it has become so integral to my style.
- I would also very much like to keep Zard-Y, simply because I'm attached to it. I also would like to keep Kyurem-B and Azumarill, but I'm less attached to them.
- With that said, I am open to any suggestion that might improve my team, even if it gets rid of Baton Pass Zap or Zard-Y or completely changes a set or an EV spread.
- Any general advice for a beginner is appreciated.
- I am particularly partial to creative solutions that I couldn't necessarily find on Smogon.
- I hate Stall teams since they are very boring, so I'd like to keep this an Offensive-minded team. This is an Offensively-oriented team that also prides itself on being versatile and not frail (which is probably where my speed problem comes in).
- There is one Pokemon that I would specifically prefer to avoid, and that is Landorus-T, due to how ridiculously common it is.
- I'm not really an expert on Speed Tiers and EV specifics and that kind of stuff, so any advice there would be awesome.
- I did not specifically build this team with a FWG or SDF core, so if that's something I should do then please suggest it.
This team is centered around Agility/Baton Pass Zapdos and offensive monsters in Charizard-Y and Kyurem-B.
Team at a glance:
Zap: Lead, Baton-Passer, Defensive.
Zard: Elite Special Attacker.
Kyu-B: Mixed Attacker, Coverage.
Azu: Defensive Sponge, Dragon Switch-in, Physical Attacker.
Drill: Rapid Spinner, Steel-Type, Physical Attacker.
Chomp: SR/Utilities.
_______________________________________________________________________________
1. Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Agility
- Roost
- Baton Pass
My team is really built around Zapdos as a baton-passer of speed. The 252 EVs in HP give it enough bulk to avoid getting OHKOed by a lot of moves except, notably, Stone Edge, and therefore time to get off an Agility and a Baton Pass (or a Roost). Roost is for reliable recovery, and Thunderbolt is just a great STAB move and prevents Zapdos from becoming Taunt fodder, like it was when I ran Toxic on this set instead of T-Bolt. Leftovers gives good passive recovery while Zapdos is setting up. This Zapdos is also just a generally good defensive mon, and can typically stomach Ice-type moves enough to get an Agility/Baton Pass or Roost in.
2. Mega Charizard-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
Nature: Modest
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Pulse
- Solarbeam
- Roost
If you can remove Charizard’s (relatively few, honestly) checks and set him up with a +2 Speed from Zapdos’ Agility/Baton Pass combo, Goodbye. Flamethrower is an accurate and powerful STAB move that can hit pretty much anything for big damage under sunlight. Solarbeam is obviously there to deal with Water/Rock/Ground-types that happen to be the only types that resist Fire outside of Dragon. Personally, I have fun playing mind games with opponents trying to guess if I’ll use Solarbeam in preparation for a switch-in or if I’ll just go with Flamethrower. Dragon Pulse is there as a solution to Dragon types, essentially, like Latis, Zard-X, and Garchomp. Roost is reliable recovery and helps deal with entry damage due to SR. With this Zard, it’s occasionally fun to not mega-evolve until after a check like Tyranitar, Hippowden, or Politoed come in expecting to ruin your Solarbeam with their weather abilities. Zard-Y is the big punch of this team, and he isn't shabby defensively either.
3. Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
Nature: Mild
EVs: 20 Atk / 252 SpA / 236 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt
- HP Fire
If something can’t be beaten by Zard-Y, typically Kyurem-B can beat it. It is also a devastating mon if its checks (Steel- and Fairy-types, for the most part) are destroyed and it is set up with a +2 Speed from Zapdos. Ice Beam and Outrage are there for STAB (and just being great moves). Fusion Bolt is for unsuspecting Water-types that try to switch in against it, and HP Fire I run on this set specifically because I hate Ferrothorn so god damn much, and HP Fire can OHKO reliably it if it has even the tiniest amount of damage already taken. I've tried running other coverage moves besides HP Fire on Kyurem-B but nothing else has been as important or useful. Kyurem-B is typically not someone I rely on in life or death situations due to its weakness to Steel-, Rock-, and Fighting-types, in addition to Life Orb damage, but it is integral to my team overall due to its great coverage and Mixed Attack.
4. Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Superpower/Power-Up Punch
This Azumarill, due to its EV spread and Vest, can stomach a lot of hits. In some cases, it’s simply used as a sponge any time I need to avoid taking a super-effective hit on someone else. With its bulk and excellent typing, it’s a good check to a whole heckuva lot of things. With its ability, Huge Power, its Attack stat is insane and makes it a serious offensive threat as well. I’m not totally satisfied with this set, so I’m happy to receive suggestions on how to fix it. Waterfall and Play Rough are strong physical STAB moves, which make this mon a great counter to Steel- and Dragon-types. Knock Off, I have found incredibly useful against bulky types that rely on Leftovers for recovery. It’s Fairy-typing makes it a great switch-in to the Fighting-types that really hurt Kyurem-B and Excadrill (next). Specifically, this Azumarill is the only reliable check to Mega-Medicham that I've found personally, and as far as I can remember the only thing that can OHKO it is a boosted Leaf Storm from Serperior. I have considered Belly Drum Azumarill instead of this set, but not enough to have tried it.
5. Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
When I first started playing the Meta-game not too long ago, I truly had no idea what I was doing. I still have no idea what I’m doing for the most part, but I now know the power of SR. Rocks are a pain in the butt to Kyurem-B, Zapdos, and ESPECIALLY Zard-Y. Excadrill is fast enough to get off a Rapid Spin when needed. Air Balloon prevents it from accidentally switching into an EQ and getting KOed, since not all Excadrills carry it. In particular, Excadrill is a great switch-in to a Stalling Glisor. Its Steel-typing makes it an excellent partner to Azumarill, since the Poison-types that check it don’t affect Excadrill. EQ needs no explanation other than that it is especially useful on this Excadrill since Mold Breaker lets it affect Rotom-W, Latis, etc. Rock Slide is more reliable than Stone Edge in terms of accuracy. And Iron Head is pretty much the only thing I’ve found that scares CM-Clefable. The Air Balloon helps this Excadrill beat other non-Ballooned Excadrills and Tyranitars.
6. Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
I’m not overly attached to Garchomp, but it has its uses, and is therefore used as a utility piece in my team. It’s can out-speed a lot of mons and can therefore usually get an SR off before switching out/dying. Dragon Tail can be fun for racking up SR damage on teams that don’t have Clefable and is a solid pseudo-haze move. EQ is a great STAB move. Swords Dance is there… I’m not totally sure why. I should probably replace it with Dragon Claw or something. But Garchomp is a very useful counter to Scizor’s Bullet Punch (this Garchomp can stomach a +2 Atk Scizor’s Bullet Punch, which is extremely useful when you take Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin damage into account) and Bisharp’s Sucker Punch. Swords Dance is also just a useful move when you know something faster is going to get killed from Rocky Helmet/Rough Skin damage and therefore don’t want to waste a move.
This team's Nemeses:
- If Azumarill is dead, I have a hard time beating Heatran reliably even though Garchomp and Excadrill have EQ, and I have nothing else that can stop a Mega-Medicham in its tracks (that I can remember).
- If Charizard-Y is dead, Mach Punch Breloom and Contrary Serperior (Leaf Storm+Dragon Pulse) decimate this team.
- If Excadrill is dead, bulky Stall teams with Toxic murder me.
- If Garchomp is dead, Bullet Punch Mega-Scizor gives this team a lot of trouble.
- If Azumarill is dead, opposing Belly Drum versions of Azumarill give this team a whole lot of trouble, since Azumarill is bulky enough that nothing can really OHKO it without boosts, which Belly Drum Azumarill would not give you the time to take.
- The Ferrothorn/Heatran duo gives me all kinds of trouble: While Azumarill can beat Heatran and Charizard-Y can beat Ferrothorn, if Ferrothorn switches into Azumarill's Waterfall it takes little damage and Azumarill takes damage itself from Iron Barbs, and if Heatran switches in to Zard-Y's Flamethrower, it just gets a boost from Flash Fire. Maybe this is a universal problem, but it's stumped me.
- Fighting-types in general are hard to handle with this team, since a lot of them also have Stone Edge to handle Zap/Zard-Y.
- In general, this team has a speed problem if Zapdos fails to pass a speed boost to my sweeper, or that sweeper is forced to switch out, specifically Zard-Y since it's only at 236 Speed.
- Mega Metagross, in general. That thing is a straight up beast.
Suggestions that might be helpful:
- Fitting a priority move with good coverage into this team would be huge and solve a lot of problems (maybe Aqua Tail Azumarill?).
- A solution to Ferrothorn/Heatran, if there is one.
- Maybe a cleric, since this team falls to bulky Toxic Stall teams easily, as well as to Burns (particularly on Kyurem-B, since it can't afford to take passive damage in addition to Life Orb damage and possible entry hazard damage).
- A back up Defogger/Rapid Spinner if Excadrill fails, since my team is so vulnerable to it, or something that is less easily OHKO'd by EQ and Fire moves.
- A way to deal with Fighting/Rock types (maybe a Psychic-type?).
- Somewhere to add Speed without sacrificing significantly in other areas. Sacrificing bulk for Speed on Charizard is an option, but I'd like to look elsewhere first.
- Maybe a different EV spread for Garchomp, if it isn't replaced outright, since I don't really use it for Offense that much.
Vague ideas that I've had but don't know enough to evaluate:
- Focus Blast on Zard-Y over Dragon Pulse would fix my Heatran problem, but it would leave my team outside of Azu pretty vulnerable to Dragons.
- Specially Defensive Jirachi might be an interesting SR replacement for Garchomp.
Pokemon I have previously tried and replaced (but am open to trying again):
- Mega-Venasaur with Toxic+Venoshock+Roar.
- Sucker Punch Bisharp.
- Starmie, for Rapid Spin.
- Mega-Altaria, since I liked its typing and its cleric capability, but it took up the Mega slot which I wanted for Zard-Y.
- Talonflame for its speed, but it was too frail for my liking.
- Latias, as a Defogger.
Final Notes:
- I would very much prefer to keep Baton Pass Zapdos if that's at all possible, since it has become so integral to my style.
- I would also very much like to keep Zard-Y, simply because I'm attached to it. I also would like to keep Kyurem-B and Azumarill, but I'm less attached to them.
- With that said, I am open to any suggestion that might improve my team, even if it gets rid of Baton Pass Zap or Zard-Y or completely changes a set or an EV spread.
- Any general advice for a beginner is appreciated.
- I am particularly partial to creative solutions that I couldn't necessarily find on Smogon.
- I hate Stall teams since they are very boring, so I'd like to keep this an Offensive-minded team. This is an Offensively-oriented team that also prides itself on being versatile and not frail (which is probably where my speed problem comes in).
- There is one Pokemon that I would specifically prefer to avoid, and that is Landorus-T, due to how ridiculously common it is.
- I'm not really an expert on Speed Tiers and EV specifics and that kind of stuff, so any advice there would be awesome.
- I did not specifically build this team with a FWG or SDF core, so if that's something I should do then please suggest it.
