I used to play on the shoddy battle sim back around gen 4 or so, but I fell out of playing off-cart in gen 5 when weather started to truly terrorize the meta. Other than a stray hail team, I was never big on weather teams, so I saw x and y's bit of a nerf as an opportunity to jump back in. Before posting, I read the rules and have played this team on showdown for a bit (ladder rank on the x/y battlespot singles list was 1744, as of this posting). Not familiar with the ladder itself, but I'm approximating that such is at least a decent effort. In any case, without further adu, here's my weatherless 3v3s team.
(Empy) Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Rotom-W was the first on the team, as I wanted to build a solid defensive core and Rotom-W is without a doubt one of the best mixed walls around. It took mere seconds for me to notice its pervasiveness and immediately find out why, so I'll spare the redundant singing of its praises (I doubt anyone familiar with OU would be unaware of this Pokemon's presence by now). Instead, I'll explain my setup for Rotom. Volt Switch is a common choice, but it's important because one of my primary goals was to form a strong volt-turn core, as having 'layered' cores like that helps immensely with picking 3 pokemon for a given battle. Will-O-Wisp is taken in-leu of, say, hidden power ice or the like to handle the mostly physical attackers that would be hitting Rotom (I may be wrong, but this meta seems to favor physical attackers). Burning dragons and ferrothorn are the most notable uses (as well as tossing out on a switch if they lack an immunity), but it sometimes helps to stallbreak in conjunction with pain split. Pain split I'm up in the air about. Chesto-rest might be more fitting for the shorter battles of 3v3s, but I've so far never felt disadvantaged by having pain split. Though, chesto-rest would also heal status, so it might be worth a try. The EVs and nature are spec'd for sp. atk and hp, with the idea being that will-o-wisp can soften physical hits. I'm not certain of any KOs gained from this, but it's more for throwing around more damage when volt-switching in a general sense. It may be worth fudging more into defenses, or even speed, but I've not felt like Rotom's been too frail to manage the threats its meant to check, and I'm not familiar enough with the new speed tiers to quite know if there's anything worthwhile that it can outspeed with some investment.
(Kiri) Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower*
Rotom-W and Scizor cover each other's weaknesses very nicely, form a powerful volt-turn core, provide bulky physical and special attackers, and even only have two weaknesses between them, which they cover for each other. Choice band is always my item of... um... choice... for Scizor. Much as swords dance can work, it doesn't suit a volt-turning core as well, and that was important in case of trappers (Mega Gengar is legal in 3's). It's hard to go wrong with high-power priority (just look at all the Talonflames), but the real trick to this set is the focus on switching momentum. U-turn is a given with Rotom's Volt Switch, but add to that Pursuit's trapping and you can really punish poor prediction. The voltturn idea of forcing switches while racking up damage just fits perfectly, but pursuit is also extremely helpful for eliminating specific threats like Celebi, Gengar, Alakazam, or Starmie. In fact, with steel's new neutrality to dark, Pursuit seems like a better option than ever, also handling the likes of Jirachi and Bronzong. Aegislashes might be taken out by Pursuit, but there are better options in this team (although I think everything in this team has an option against Aegislash, interestingly enough). Superpower has an asterisk because, despite being an excellent choice in theory, I've never had a situation where I actually made us of it. Generally, anything hit harder by superpower was something I'd rather u-turn or hard switch out of. It may be unorthidox, but I might consider running defog as an 'emergency clear', in case I come across a hazard-focused team (in 3's, they're unusual, but SR at least still sees use often enough). Doesn't seem like a gimmick if it'll get me more use out of that 4th moveslot than superpower will, at least. HP/Atk is pretty standard for Scizor CB; I don't feel like extra speed is useful on a trapping-styled set like this.
(Din) Talonflame @ Nothing
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
Before the repeated stabbings for lacking an item, flying gem is unavailable and I make use of acrobatics. Don't hurt me. Acrobatics does some truly disgusting damage at priority with a swords dance (which is amazingly common-- that HP lets you swords dance on a surprising variety of foes who're expecting Talonflame to be made of paper. Charizard Y, genesect, opposing Talonflames... it's surprising how often you can tank a hit for a swords dance, or switch into resisted hits (or even nonresisted hits, depending on the source). Talonflame's ability to completely wall most fairies barring Azumarill, various grass types (Ferrothorn, most notably), Scizor... Granted, it's mostly a revenge-killer, but you get to switch in, swords dance on the switch if the pokemon you're revenge-killing doesn't threaten you, and sweep. With roost, you're also far more difficult to wall, given that you're able to shrug off the first few rounds of toxic damage from that toxic heal gliscor. That, and nothing beats the ability to reverse-revenge-kill the likes of Scizor from 1hp by baiting a bullet punch with priority roost only to pick him off or get another free roost (or swords dance) as they switch out. The synergy with Scizor and Rotom is fantastic, Talonflames dealing with threats to both of them. That, and a boosted acrobatics can destroy pokemon that one would normally not think to face with Talonflame at all, like Cobalion or any Greninja lacking, of all things, Water Shuriken (someone surprised me with that one a while back). Roost also keeps SR from 100% ending your chance at using Talonflame, as anyone who deals less than 50% of your health can still be managed with a first-turn roost or the like. A set that may be a bit unusual for Talonflame, but it's worked scarily well, sweeping hyper-offensive teams instantly if they make the mistake of letting a swords dance slip through. That, and any revenge killer that doesn't need a choice item is invaluable when you're limited to 3 per battle. Though, to be perfectly honest, I might never have discovered this set if not for 3v3's item clause.
(Miasma) Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Disable
- Focus Blast
- Substitute
Because of Kangaskhan's legality in 3v3s, I originally considered Gengar entirely for its ability to substitute/disable a sucker punch/crunch. From behind a substitute, Gengar has, I believe, been able to survive the 2nd, half damage hit from a crunch, and sucker punch doesn't even take the substitute to manage (just disable). From there, focus blast can take it down before disable wears off. That said, between scrappy fake-outs, sucker punch+crunch sets, crits and misses in general? Gengar's not a sure thing as far as taking out the big K. That being said, dissub-gar has some spectacular utility and flexibility, as well as great scouting ability with its quick substitutes. Quick substitute gives my group a status absorber outside of immunities (which I do have, between scizor's toxic immunity, rotom's paralysis immunity, and talonflame's burn immunity), and disable keeps choice users from getting out of hand (having a substitute up lets you disable a predicted scarf user or priority bander, or throwing up a sub in front of a band/specs user to set up the disable). DDance dragonite and garchomps that use outrage+earthquake without, or with only one, coverage move that can hit gengar also find themselves out of luck as gengar substitutes on the dance or move. The sheer utility is just invaluable, and he can even take out the stray Mega Gengar if the dissub moves work your way (substituting on the switch or disabling shadow ball respectively). Even if not, though, ghost type lets you switch out in a pinch, and you can even escape or kill a pursuit Scizor with substitute->disable, if you predict their having the move. That, and Gengar works fantastically with the other two members of the team...
(Haruha) Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus (Adaptability)
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Nasty Plot*
- Shadow Ball
- Vacuum Wave*
Lucario is here as a bit more than just an obligatory Mega Evolution, and was initially considered, as with Gengar, to fulfill a very specialized role. In this case, minimize hax was the target problem. Granted, the likes of Drifblim laugh at Aura Sphere, but the choice between special and physical attacker was mostly for the simple sake of being able to set up on the likes of minimize chansey/blissey with a nasty plot when they think you're physically based, or if they flat out forget aura sphere can't miss. Shadow ball for coverage is simple enough, but Lucario tends to be the least used of my team... not because it doesn't fit, but because it just seems to be missing something. I've been playing around with nasty plot and vacuum wave, for sweeping potential and adaptability boosted priority respectively, but perhaps the priority isn't needed on a team where everything but rotom-w already has priority moves? Or maybe 3v3s makes nasty plot a bit superflous when I already have two boosting sweepers? When I do use Lucario, it has plenty of power... but even with trying physical sets like close combat/ice punch/shadow claw OR crunch OR bullet punch/swords dance, I just feel like I'm missing out on some potential here... Perhaps Lucario just doesn't check any pertinent threats to my team beyond the likes of a few evasion hax abusers? Lucario's has me more puzzled than the rest of my team by a longshot, in any case. That all said, it's always nice to switch into a dark move directed at gengar or bluff a physical set just by mega evolving... In any case, it's possible that I've just not run into threats that Lucario does indeed check (I imagine Excadrill wouldn't be fond of Vacuum wave even in some sandstorms).
(Natsu) Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- ExtremeSpeed
Ah, Dragonite. The glue that holds this team together. Fairies or no fairies, the idea of 'when in doubt, dragons out' still rings true-- Dragonite is seldom a choice that goes too terribly wrong. Outside of a few scarf Garchomps, I've never been a big fan of Dragon-focused teams, but Dragonite's spectacular talent for almost guaranteed DDances makes it, interestingly enough, a fantastic dragon-killer itself. I've seen it survive draco meteors from Latios when multiscale was up, a feat that'd be impressive for some who resist the move, let alone take SE damage from it. That's not something to rely on, of course, but you can still kill ice shard Mamoswines, just about any physical dragon, and yes, the occasional Latio/as with those boosted outrages. Earthquake is the preferred coverage simply because the team otherwise lacks ground moves, but has fire elsewhere, and extremespeed is a nice catchall for anything from the afformentioned Mamoswine (although fire punch is potentially missed against bulky variants, their tendency to start with SR can still ruin them) to frail priority users (especially if you've gotten a DDance off) like Weavile or Talonflame. Lum berry to absorb status in a meta without sleep clause is also wonderful, and it keeps will-o-wisps, thunder waves, or outraged confusions from ending a sweep. Best of all, Dragonite provides a wide range of resistances should its initial sweep end in a switch out (I tend to send in Dragonite only when its multiscale won't be broken on the switch if possible; earthquakes directed at Scizor/Lucario in particular).
Random Notes:
-This entire team is immune to toxic spikes, barring Gravity.
-All but Rotom-w have a priority attack.
-Every Pokemon on this team has an option against Aegislash (will-o-wisp or SE attacks).
-Only two Pokemon are vulnerable to Spikes/Earthquake (outside of Mold Breaker).
-One SR resistance, one 2x weakness, one 4x weakness.
-Counting Dragonite's Lum berry, every pokemon is immune to one status effect.
-There are an equal number of physical and special attackers.
-Yes, they have nicknames, go ahead and poke fun.
-Half of the team cannot be trapped by shadow tag.
-Two thirds of the team cannot be trapped by arena trap.
-Only one can be trapped by magnet pull (barring a mispredicted choice attack).
Picking 3:
Originally, Rotom-W, Scizor, and Talonflame were treated as equivalent to a FWG core, with Dragonite, Gengar, and Lucario being another sort of core, but in playtesting, they blend together just as often as are picked as those two distinct groups. Rotom-W is almost an automatic pick if they lack a grass attacker, likewise for Scizor if they lack a fire attacker, but if they're needed to check some specific threats, they're oft chosen regardless. Gengar shows up any time I see that they're team has slower threats that rely on a single move to hit it or if I suspect stall picks like the always-infuriating toxic-heal Gliscor (or if I see Kangaskhan at all). Talonflame is in almost automatically if they lack a Rotom-W, but most notably if they lack resistances or if they have Pokemon that Talonflame can wall entirely (best examples: ferrothorn, scizor, many charizards). Dragonite is generally in whenever I see opposing dragons (although Goodra is oft Scizor's to take out), or if they have a severe lack of fairy/steel types. Lucario is in if I suspect hax, and generally if they don't look to have any real threats to it-- more than the others, Lucario's a bit 'by feel' in its choice, unless they have some team with 3+ fighting weaknesses or some such nonsense, of course.
Possible Threats:
I've played with this team enough to find a few problem areas, but it's hard to tell if the issue is necessarily the team. If so, it may be fixed through minor tweaks rather than drastic measures...
-Gliscor?: I've mentioned Gengar can wall it in theory, but I worry that there's no other Pokemon in my team who can do /anything/ to something like poison heal Gliscor. Gliscor can potentially bait Gengar into wasting all its HP if it acts as bait before switching into a threat like a pursuit user. While this doesn't doom Gengar, it's apt to force a substitute, wearing Gengar down (especially if they have SR up). Substitute in general rather worries this team, as there's no answer to it beyond substitutes of my own and an excess of priority.
-Weather: While my team has no need for weather, most non-weather teams still have Pokemon that take some small advantages from weather-effects, whether they're self-imposed or otherwise. Chlorophyll as non-mega Venusaur's abilities, or Sand Veil on a Garchomp, etc. Outside of flare blits and hydro pump getting a bit of damage, I've got nothing going for me when weather hits. Worse yet, sandstorm or hail disrupt Dragonite's multiscale. It takes extremely careful play to work around an enemy team's weather control.
-Kangaskhan: With scrappy, it can take out Gengar without even mega evolving. If it's smart, in fact, it will. I've only ever won against Kangaskhans because they mega-evolved to early when they lacked crunch plus sucker punch.
-Dragons?: While Dragonite -can- survive a draco meteor... I'm not certain that it necessarily /will/. I'm a bit wary of Scizor being the only dragon resistance on the team. Perhaps Scizor's enough, but a lack of ice moves at all, a single dragon move user (who is weak to dragon itself), and a single resistance to dragon... is potentially shaky ground.
-Status?: The high amount of priority makes thunder wave, on-paper, less than ideal... the team being half special attackers, with only one physical attacker susceptible to burn (Scizor) makes will-o-wisp less than ideal as well... and having only two targets for poison makes toxic less than ideal... Sleep is still terrifying to consider. I dread the game when I have to face a fast, accurate sleep-inducer. Chlorophyll Venusaur, perhaps, or even a quiver dance Vivillon for all I know-- if it outspeeds Gengar and/or can outspeed and take a hit from Dragonite... that'd be it. If I only have one of the two with me, the odds are, of course, that much worse.
-Hazards?: Toxic spikes are, of course, irrelevant, and spikes can only hit two... but hitting two isn't necessarily negligible, and SR in particular can be devastating in its breaking Dragonite's multiscale along with ruining Talonflame's switching ability entirely. As I have no hazard setters or clearing, and the team lacks any form of reliable recovery, that residual damage could make a phaze-heavy full-stall team brutal to face.
-Ghost type attacks: There is no resistance or immunity present. Even dark type attacks are a bit problematic, but both of these may actually be more a product of the metagame than a hit against the team itself.
-Rotom-W: Plenty of Pokemon on this team can hit Rotom hard, but none super effectively. Lucario or Dragonite probably do the best, both baiting burns that don't hamper their damage, or Gengar baiting a burn with substitute, or disabling hydro pump to force volt switches (or PP stalling hydro pump?)... but there's no direct counter, as a team with a grass type would have.
-Boosting sweepers: The bit of bulk and high priority count of this team make revenge killing a bit of a check, but there's no phasing, taunts, etc. on this team to keep certain set-up sweepers from getting their buffs and rolling out (not literally with rollout, mind you).
-Mold Breaker: Rotom-W and Gengar both rely on Levitate to survive otherwise instantly lethal earthquakes... which might be a problem, based on who has the ability.
Anywho, I'm sure that I've missed some information, so feel free to ask about anything else I should include. My apologies in advance if I've missed some rules or etiquette for posting an RMT, but I /think/ I've covered everything...
(Empy) Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Rotom-W was the first on the team, as I wanted to build a solid defensive core and Rotom-W is without a doubt one of the best mixed walls around. It took mere seconds for me to notice its pervasiveness and immediately find out why, so I'll spare the redundant singing of its praises (I doubt anyone familiar with OU would be unaware of this Pokemon's presence by now). Instead, I'll explain my setup for Rotom. Volt Switch is a common choice, but it's important because one of my primary goals was to form a strong volt-turn core, as having 'layered' cores like that helps immensely with picking 3 pokemon for a given battle. Will-O-Wisp is taken in-leu of, say, hidden power ice or the like to handle the mostly physical attackers that would be hitting Rotom (I may be wrong, but this meta seems to favor physical attackers). Burning dragons and ferrothorn are the most notable uses (as well as tossing out on a switch if they lack an immunity), but it sometimes helps to stallbreak in conjunction with pain split. Pain split I'm up in the air about. Chesto-rest might be more fitting for the shorter battles of 3v3s, but I've so far never felt disadvantaged by having pain split. Though, chesto-rest would also heal status, so it might be worth a try. The EVs and nature are spec'd for sp. atk and hp, with the idea being that will-o-wisp can soften physical hits. I'm not certain of any KOs gained from this, but it's more for throwing around more damage when volt-switching in a general sense. It may be worth fudging more into defenses, or even speed, but I've not felt like Rotom's been too frail to manage the threats its meant to check, and I'm not familiar enough with the new speed tiers to quite know if there's anything worthwhile that it can outspeed with some investment.
(Kiri) Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower*
Rotom-W and Scizor cover each other's weaknesses very nicely, form a powerful volt-turn core, provide bulky physical and special attackers, and even only have two weaknesses between them, which they cover for each other. Choice band is always my item of... um... choice... for Scizor. Much as swords dance can work, it doesn't suit a volt-turning core as well, and that was important in case of trappers (Mega Gengar is legal in 3's). It's hard to go wrong with high-power priority (just look at all the Talonflames), but the real trick to this set is the focus on switching momentum. U-turn is a given with Rotom's Volt Switch, but add to that Pursuit's trapping and you can really punish poor prediction. The voltturn idea of forcing switches while racking up damage just fits perfectly, but pursuit is also extremely helpful for eliminating specific threats like Celebi, Gengar, Alakazam, or Starmie. In fact, with steel's new neutrality to dark, Pursuit seems like a better option than ever, also handling the likes of Jirachi and Bronzong. Aegislashes might be taken out by Pursuit, but there are better options in this team (although I think everything in this team has an option against Aegislash, interestingly enough). Superpower has an asterisk because, despite being an excellent choice in theory, I've never had a situation where I actually made us of it. Generally, anything hit harder by superpower was something I'd rather u-turn or hard switch out of. It may be unorthidox, but I might consider running defog as an 'emergency clear', in case I come across a hazard-focused team (in 3's, they're unusual, but SR at least still sees use often enough). Doesn't seem like a gimmick if it'll get me more use out of that 4th moveslot than superpower will, at least. HP/Atk is pretty standard for Scizor CB; I don't feel like extra speed is useful on a trapping-styled set like this.
(Din) Talonflame @ Nothing
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
Before the repeated stabbings for lacking an item, flying gem is unavailable and I make use of acrobatics. Don't hurt me. Acrobatics does some truly disgusting damage at priority with a swords dance (which is amazingly common-- that HP lets you swords dance on a surprising variety of foes who're expecting Talonflame to be made of paper. Charizard Y, genesect, opposing Talonflames... it's surprising how often you can tank a hit for a swords dance, or switch into resisted hits (or even nonresisted hits, depending on the source). Talonflame's ability to completely wall most fairies barring Azumarill, various grass types (Ferrothorn, most notably), Scizor... Granted, it's mostly a revenge-killer, but you get to switch in, swords dance on the switch if the pokemon you're revenge-killing doesn't threaten you, and sweep. With roost, you're also far more difficult to wall, given that you're able to shrug off the first few rounds of toxic damage from that toxic heal gliscor. That, and nothing beats the ability to reverse-revenge-kill the likes of Scizor from 1hp by baiting a bullet punch with priority roost only to pick him off or get another free roost (or swords dance) as they switch out. The synergy with Scizor and Rotom is fantastic, Talonflames dealing with threats to both of them. That, and a boosted acrobatics can destroy pokemon that one would normally not think to face with Talonflame at all, like Cobalion or any Greninja lacking, of all things, Water Shuriken (someone surprised me with that one a while back). Roost also keeps SR from 100% ending your chance at using Talonflame, as anyone who deals less than 50% of your health can still be managed with a first-turn roost or the like. A set that may be a bit unusual for Talonflame, but it's worked scarily well, sweeping hyper-offensive teams instantly if they make the mistake of letting a swords dance slip through. That, and any revenge killer that doesn't need a choice item is invaluable when you're limited to 3 per battle. Though, to be perfectly honest, I might never have discovered this set if not for 3v3's item clause.
(Miasma) Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Disable
- Focus Blast
- Substitute
Because of Kangaskhan's legality in 3v3s, I originally considered Gengar entirely for its ability to substitute/disable a sucker punch/crunch. From behind a substitute, Gengar has, I believe, been able to survive the 2nd, half damage hit from a crunch, and sucker punch doesn't even take the substitute to manage (just disable). From there, focus blast can take it down before disable wears off. That said, between scrappy fake-outs, sucker punch+crunch sets, crits and misses in general? Gengar's not a sure thing as far as taking out the big K. That being said, dissub-gar has some spectacular utility and flexibility, as well as great scouting ability with its quick substitutes. Quick substitute gives my group a status absorber outside of immunities (which I do have, between scizor's toxic immunity, rotom's paralysis immunity, and talonflame's burn immunity), and disable keeps choice users from getting out of hand (having a substitute up lets you disable a predicted scarf user or priority bander, or throwing up a sub in front of a band/specs user to set up the disable). DDance dragonite and garchomps that use outrage+earthquake without, or with only one, coverage move that can hit gengar also find themselves out of luck as gengar substitutes on the dance or move. The sheer utility is just invaluable, and he can even take out the stray Mega Gengar if the dissub moves work your way (substituting on the switch or disabling shadow ball respectively). Even if not, though, ghost type lets you switch out in a pinch, and you can even escape or kill a pursuit Scizor with substitute->disable, if you predict their having the move. That, and Gengar works fantastically with the other two members of the team...
(Haruha) Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus (Adaptability)
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Nasty Plot*
- Shadow Ball
- Vacuum Wave*
Lucario is here as a bit more than just an obligatory Mega Evolution, and was initially considered, as with Gengar, to fulfill a very specialized role. In this case, minimize hax was the target problem. Granted, the likes of Drifblim laugh at Aura Sphere, but the choice between special and physical attacker was mostly for the simple sake of being able to set up on the likes of minimize chansey/blissey with a nasty plot when they think you're physically based, or if they flat out forget aura sphere can't miss. Shadow ball for coverage is simple enough, but Lucario tends to be the least used of my team... not because it doesn't fit, but because it just seems to be missing something. I've been playing around with nasty plot and vacuum wave, for sweeping potential and adaptability boosted priority respectively, but perhaps the priority isn't needed on a team where everything but rotom-w already has priority moves? Or maybe 3v3s makes nasty plot a bit superflous when I already have two boosting sweepers? When I do use Lucario, it has plenty of power... but even with trying physical sets like close combat/ice punch/shadow claw OR crunch OR bullet punch/swords dance, I just feel like I'm missing out on some potential here... Perhaps Lucario just doesn't check any pertinent threats to my team beyond the likes of a few evasion hax abusers? Lucario's has me more puzzled than the rest of my team by a longshot, in any case. That all said, it's always nice to switch into a dark move directed at gengar or bluff a physical set just by mega evolving... In any case, it's possible that I've just not run into threats that Lucario does indeed check (I imagine Excadrill wouldn't be fond of Vacuum wave even in some sandstorms).
(Natsu) Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- ExtremeSpeed
Ah, Dragonite. The glue that holds this team together. Fairies or no fairies, the idea of 'when in doubt, dragons out' still rings true-- Dragonite is seldom a choice that goes too terribly wrong. Outside of a few scarf Garchomps, I've never been a big fan of Dragon-focused teams, but Dragonite's spectacular talent for almost guaranteed DDances makes it, interestingly enough, a fantastic dragon-killer itself. I've seen it survive draco meteors from Latios when multiscale was up, a feat that'd be impressive for some who resist the move, let alone take SE damage from it. That's not something to rely on, of course, but you can still kill ice shard Mamoswines, just about any physical dragon, and yes, the occasional Latio/as with those boosted outrages. Earthquake is the preferred coverage simply because the team otherwise lacks ground moves, but has fire elsewhere, and extremespeed is a nice catchall for anything from the afformentioned Mamoswine (although fire punch is potentially missed against bulky variants, their tendency to start with SR can still ruin them) to frail priority users (especially if you've gotten a DDance off) like Weavile or Talonflame. Lum berry to absorb status in a meta without sleep clause is also wonderful, and it keeps will-o-wisps, thunder waves, or outraged confusions from ending a sweep. Best of all, Dragonite provides a wide range of resistances should its initial sweep end in a switch out (I tend to send in Dragonite only when its multiscale won't be broken on the switch if possible; earthquakes directed at Scizor/Lucario in particular).
Random Notes:
-This entire team is immune to toxic spikes, barring Gravity.
-All but Rotom-w have a priority attack.
-Every Pokemon on this team has an option against Aegislash (will-o-wisp or SE attacks).
-Only two Pokemon are vulnerable to Spikes/Earthquake (outside of Mold Breaker).
-One SR resistance, one 2x weakness, one 4x weakness.
-Counting Dragonite's Lum berry, every pokemon is immune to one status effect.
-There are an equal number of physical and special attackers.
-Yes, they have nicknames, go ahead and poke fun.
-Half of the team cannot be trapped by shadow tag.
-Two thirds of the team cannot be trapped by arena trap.
-Only one can be trapped by magnet pull (barring a mispredicted choice attack).
Picking 3:
Originally, Rotom-W, Scizor, and Talonflame were treated as equivalent to a FWG core, with Dragonite, Gengar, and Lucario being another sort of core, but in playtesting, they blend together just as often as are picked as those two distinct groups. Rotom-W is almost an automatic pick if they lack a grass attacker, likewise for Scizor if they lack a fire attacker, but if they're needed to check some specific threats, they're oft chosen regardless. Gengar shows up any time I see that they're team has slower threats that rely on a single move to hit it or if I suspect stall picks like the always-infuriating toxic-heal Gliscor (or if I see Kangaskhan at all). Talonflame is in almost automatically if they lack a Rotom-W, but most notably if they lack resistances or if they have Pokemon that Talonflame can wall entirely (best examples: ferrothorn, scizor, many charizards). Dragonite is generally in whenever I see opposing dragons (although Goodra is oft Scizor's to take out), or if they have a severe lack of fairy/steel types. Lucario is in if I suspect hax, and generally if they don't look to have any real threats to it-- more than the others, Lucario's a bit 'by feel' in its choice, unless they have some team with 3+ fighting weaknesses or some such nonsense, of course.
Possible Threats:
I've played with this team enough to find a few problem areas, but it's hard to tell if the issue is necessarily the team. If so, it may be fixed through minor tweaks rather than drastic measures...
-Gliscor?: I've mentioned Gengar can wall it in theory, but I worry that there's no other Pokemon in my team who can do /anything/ to something like poison heal Gliscor. Gliscor can potentially bait Gengar into wasting all its HP if it acts as bait before switching into a threat like a pursuit user. While this doesn't doom Gengar, it's apt to force a substitute, wearing Gengar down (especially if they have SR up). Substitute in general rather worries this team, as there's no answer to it beyond substitutes of my own and an excess of priority.
-Weather: While my team has no need for weather, most non-weather teams still have Pokemon that take some small advantages from weather-effects, whether they're self-imposed or otherwise. Chlorophyll as non-mega Venusaur's abilities, or Sand Veil on a Garchomp, etc. Outside of flare blits and hydro pump getting a bit of damage, I've got nothing going for me when weather hits. Worse yet, sandstorm or hail disrupt Dragonite's multiscale. It takes extremely careful play to work around an enemy team's weather control.
-Kangaskhan: With scrappy, it can take out Gengar without even mega evolving. If it's smart, in fact, it will. I've only ever won against Kangaskhans because they mega-evolved to early when they lacked crunch plus sucker punch.
-Dragons?: While Dragonite -can- survive a draco meteor... I'm not certain that it necessarily /will/. I'm a bit wary of Scizor being the only dragon resistance on the team. Perhaps Scizor's enough, but a lack of ice moves at all, a single dragon move user (who is weak to dragon itself), and a single resistance to dragon... is potentially shaky ground.
-Status?: The high amount of priority makes thunder wave, on-paper, less than ideal... the team being half special attackers, with only one physical attacker susceptible to burn (Scizor) makes will-o-wisp less than ideal as well... and having only two targets for poison makes toxic less than ideal... Sleep is still terrifying to consider. I dread the game when I have to face a fast, accurate sleep-inducer. Chlorophyll Venusaur, perhaps, or even a quiver dance Vivillon for all I know-- if it outspeeds Gengar and/or can outspeed and take a hit from Dragonite... that'd be it. If I only have one of the two with me, the odds are, of course, that much worse.
-Hazards?: Toxic spikes are, of course, irrelevant, and spikes can only hit two... but hitting two isn't necessarily negligible, and SR in particular can be devastating in its breaking Dragonite's multiscale along with ruining Talonflame's switching ability entirely. As I have no hazard setters or clearing, and the team lacks any form of reliable recovery, that residual damage could make a phaze-heavy full-stall team brutal to face.
-Ghost type attacks: There is no resistance or immunity present. Even dark type attacks are a bit problematic, but both of these may actually be more a product of the metagame than a hit against the team itself.
-Rotom-W: Plenty of Pokemon on this team can hit Rotom hard, but none super effectively. Lucario or Dragonite probably do the best, both baiting burns that don't hamper their damage, or Gengar baiting a burn with substitute, or disabling hydro pump to force volt switches (or PP stalling hydro pump?)... but there's no direct counter, as a team with a grass type would have.
-Boosting sweepers: The bit of bulk and high priority count of this team make revenge killing a bit of a check, but there's no phasing, taunts, etc. on this team to keep certain set-up sweepers from getting their buffs and rolling out (not literally with rollout, mind you).
-Mold Breaker: Rotom-W and Gengar both rely on Levitate to survive otherwise instantly lethal earthquakes... which might be a problem, based on who has the ability.
Anywho, I'm sure that I've missed some information, so feel free to ask about anything else I should include. My apologies in advance if I've missed some rules or etiquette for posting an RMT, but I /think/ I've covered everything...
