Blazed, Phazed, and Confused

AlaskanMushroom

Hi, all. I've been browsing back and forth over 8 tabs, digging through strategies, and turning over any stone that might make taping this team together easy (or practical the very least) for the last 3 days (6 hours of planning). I think I finally figured out a way to fulfill my objective: Using confusion to make low accuracy moves, setting up sweepers, and inducing more status easier.

The team as a whole is very risky, and lives and dies in the hands of how well the confusion works. I figure that I'll pull out more than I lose with this set, but it still doesn't feel right. I would like some help inserting more practical pokes, or revising the movesets of the pokes I have up.

Thanks much!

The Lead:
aerodactyl.gif

Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Speed, 252 Attack, 6 HP
Moveset:
Taunt
Swagger
Stealth Rock
Stone Edge

The Idea is get Aerodactyl out there, and hopefully outpace the more common bulky leads in today's OU metagame with a Swagger. Odds are, the opposing lead will follow suit with a setup move like spikes or stealth rocks, and hopefully those fail. If this is the case, then I drop a taunt. If the opposing trainer is smart, they will switch out of their bulky lead at this point, bringing in a counter to Aerodactyl. This gives me a free turn to set up Stealth rock, and, assuming my HP remains full, gives me a free shot with Stone edge before dying. My attempt at a suicide lead.

If, on the other hand, a rarer offensive lead jumps out, I hit a swagger followed by a stealth rock, focus sash garunteeing the set up, assuming I'm faster. If this isn't the case, and I predict Aerodactyl will be outpaced, I'll simply set up stealth rock and set up an amnesia, dropping Stone Edges until Aerodactyl is hit, and switching into a counter on the faint.

starmie.png

Starmie @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Speed, 252 SpA, 6 HP
Moveset:
Confuse Ray
Hydro Pump
Thunder
Rapid Spin

Timid Starmie is a gambler in this set. His primary objective depends on the stealth rocks/spikes on the feild. If they are there, Rapid Spin followed by a confuse ray allows starmie to set up his primary task: ripping early holes in the opposing team. I'm not so afraid of the low accuracy on Pump and Thunder, as Confuse Ray likely will give me a free miss, and the STAB Hydro Pump combined with the EV spread does some pretty serious damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Thunder provides good coverage, and packs more punch than Bolt.

gengar.png

Gengar @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Speed, 252 SpA, 6 HP
Moveset:
Confuse Ray
Hypnosis
Dream Eater
Focus Blast

I love Dream Eater, but it's practicality has never been there.. Hopefully I can use the Hydro Pump/Thunder accuracy logic with Hypnosis, too. Getting in there and slapping a confuse ray for starters hopefully allows me 2 shots at setting up Hypnosis without getting 2HKO'd. Once Hypnosis is locked in, Dream Eater replenishes what I suspect will be pretty low health. Coverage is provided by Focus Blast, a favorite on Gengar. It becomes even more practical, as it's low accuracy is somewhat compensated for by confuse ray.

anime068.jpg

Machamp @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 HP, 6 Speed
Moveset:
Dynamic Punch
Payback
Rest
Sleep Talk

A classic Machamp actually fits pretty well in this team. Dynamic Punch sets up the confusion, and if the Foe is lucky enough to score a few hits, Rest/Sleep talk allow Machamp a chance to recover and restore confusion if lost. Payback provides coverage, and takes care of Machamps counters that think they can switch in on him while he's sleeping.

salamence.png

Salamence @ Life Orb
Nature: Naïve
EVs: 232 Attack, 252 Speed, 24 SpA
Moveset:
Dragon Dance
Outrage
Earthquake
Fire Blast

I know I'm getting really creative here =P. But Salamence Gets even more opportunities to get in and set up with all the confusion that's geting thrown around. Salamance switching in on just about anything neutral and confused forces a switch, allowing Salamence to score a free Dragon Dance. Hopefully with the coverage provided by the 3 attacks, Salamence will be able to get a OHKO on whichever counter switches in, and set up his sweep.

477jv0.png

Dusknoir @ leftovers
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Defense, 6 Attack
Moveset:
Confuse Ray
Will-O-Whisp
Earthquake
Ice Punch

Confuse Ray, plus a burn, plus a physical wall is a good thing. My hope is that Dusknoir can force a switch after his initial setup, and get either a confuse ray or a burn on his counter followed by a switch out. Ice Punch and Earthquake supply him with good coverage. The burns will come in handy on my defensively-weak team, and, again, will allow his offensive teammates a better opportunity to set up.

Thanks again for the read.. I hope you see eye to eye with me on some of these goals. I just love confusion... It throws such a wrench in sooo many teams and strategies. I'm hoping this turned out somewhat original, too. I hate copying the same old Skarmory, Scizor, Breloom strategies and sets... so I hope I at least get some points for Originality, haha

Cheers!
 
I highly doubt that your opponent is dumb enough not to switch out a sleeping pokemon =/ And so I also doubt that Dream Eater could actually be useful, especially with standard rule sleep clause. Shadowball on this slot would help a lot more, I suppose. You lack a steel btw. So if a dragon gets lucky and hits through confusion, you´re more or less screwed(sorry if I´m too harsh...)
 
Your pictures at the top are too large, making this thread almost unreadable. If you sort this out, I'd be happy to give you a rate.

Most of your sets are very gimmicky - the analyses might be a better place to start
 
jc104 said:
Your pictures at the top are too large, making this thread almost unreadable. If you sort this out, I'd be happy to give you a rate.

Most of your sets are very gimmicky - the analyses might be a better place to start
Click to expand...

No, that's ok. I understand the gimmicky part, it definitely is a gimmicky team (although I prefer the term gamble). I included a brief analysis at the beginning, and an explanation with each poke... Anything specific you need? Also, I re-sized the pictures, so I hope that helped.

JojoX3 said:
I highly doubt that your opponent is dumb enough not to switch out a sleeping pokemon =/ And so I also doubt that Dream Eater could actually be useful, especially with standard rule sleep clause. Shadowball on this slot would help a lot more, I suppose. You lack a steel btw. So if a dragon gets lucky and hits through confusion, you´re more or less screwed(sorry if I´m too harsh...)
Click to expand...

A steel would be a good addition. Bronzong maybe? Empoleon might work, too... Thank you for the suggestion. And I always forget that Gengar doesn't get STAB dream eater... >.<. Shadow ball will definitely take its place.
 
I don't really see anything special with your team. It mostly plays on luck hax, and when Pokemon are confused, they tend to switch out lol. Same with sleep. Hypnosis has terrible accuracy, and so does Thunder. Swagger on Aerodactly might actually HELP your opponent since Stone Edge does not provide good coverage.

If you really want to cripple your opponent, go for status moves like Thunder Wave, Toxic (Spikes), and Will-O-Wisp. Also, check standard movesets and moves. Dream Eater? Seriously... Come on. JojoX3 has already mentioned why it is bad. STAB Dream Eater wouldn't even make a difference, lol.

I highly doubt that this team can handle standard teams such as Stall or pure offense. Tyranitar alone can wreck your whole team if Machamp is down. Study up on the metagame a bit, and revise your team.
 
Accel said:
I don't really see anything special with your team. It mostly plays on luck hax, and when Pokemon are confused, they tend to switch out lol. Same with sleep. Hypnosis has terrible accuracy, and so does Thunder. Swagger on Aerodactly might actually HELP your opponent since Stone Edge does not provide good coverage.

If you really want to cripple your opponent, go for status moves like Thunder Wave, Toxic (Spikes), and Will-O-Wisp. Also, check standard movesets and moves. Dream Eater? Seriously... Come on. JojoX3 has already mentioned why it is bad. STAB Dream Eater wouldn't even make a difference, lol.

I highly doubt that this team can handle standard teams such as Stall or pure offense. Tyranitar alone can wreck your whole team if Machamp is down. Study up on the metagame a bit, and revise your team.
Click to expand...

8-1 right now...

^^
 
Ok. I am completely going for "outrageousness" here. What I am about to say relies on more luck, than a Ditto sweeping a team. But, I think it fits in with your confusion team.

Claydol @ Light Clay/Leftovers
252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Swagger
- Explosion

Strategy: You will probably attack second, so swagger your opponent. They should switch out, if not, pray they hit themselves. Set up Light Screen. Next turn, either swagger again, or set up Reflect. Then just explode.

Now you bring in Linoone @ Salac Berry with Gluttony - Adamant
116 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 136 Spe
Belly Drum
ExtremeSpeed
Seed Bomb
Shadow Claw

Now you sweep. Belly Drum first turn, pray you don't die, Salac activates, run through a team.

That was the stupidest thing I have ever written. But have fun with it and good luck. When I say good luck, I mean it. I got bored.
 
Well, this is more of general idea than any specific suggestion, but with a swagger user and two confuse ray users, you're probably going to cause a lot of switching. You probably want additional entry hazards (spikes, toxic spikes), as you'll end up causing more damage that way.

Overall, I do not approve of the premise of the team, but if you're going to go down that route, abuse entry hazards. You even have a spin blocker to assist you in this, so do it.
 
i don't really get this team, but it looks like youcould really abuse entry hazards anabove all, gravity. Starmie and duskie can set it up, and if you choose entry hazards, all pokes will be affected by them, and your shaky acc moves become more viable
 
I recomend making Salamence your last pokemon and droping the naive for adamant nature and droping the fire blast for roost and then you will have quite a nice team but dusknoir for your last is kinda off for Will-o-wisp to be usefull is to take out the sweepers with so id set it for your second pokemon after you get SR/TS/ down

OH and cut some confuse rays they dont even last very long half the time its almost pointless
 
Right. I promised a rate, so here it is:

As people above have said, it is no good simply to force switches with confusion if you are simply going to allow the opponent to switch for free. I would suggest a Forretress on your team to provide both spikes and Toxic Spikes support. This also frees up some options for Starmie as you no longer need Rapid Spin. I would suggest that you use Choice Scarf on Starmie so that you can revenge-kill a variety of threats such as Salamence, Gyarados, and to a lesser extent Tyranitar, who at the moment will likely sweep your team easily. I would replace Gengar with Forretress, since I really feel that the dream eater strategy is not viable.

I would suggest including some paralysis support on your team. This will reduce the chance for your opponent to attack, cripple offensive threats, and make your opponents slower than Machamp. Since your team seems to be designed on a basis of being annoying, I would suggest a Jirachi in the lead position, with a set of Thunderwave/SR/Iron Head/U-turn or Wish or something like that. Aerodactyl does not fit well with this team I feel. It is too frail to attempt to stall, and focuses on preventing SR - relatively pointless when you have a spinner. This might give you a bit of a fire weakness though, so you might want to consider the more specially bulky Scarf Latias.

I am of the opinion that, unless you cannot get it due to Wifi, you should use Rotom-A over Dusknoir. Rotom has much better typing, movepool and offensive capabilities. I would suggest a double status version - something along the lines of Discharge/Will-o-wisp/Shadow ball/Overheat (or Confuse ray if you so wish,) with a spread of 252hp 168def 88speed and a bold nature.

I would suggest a bulky salamence, as it can set up more easily on crippled opponents. The set should be 252hp 180def 76 speed and a jolly nature and Dragon Dance/Dragon Claw/Earthquake/Roost. This makes an excellent counter to Lucario as well by the way.

Conclusion - suggested team: Jirachi, Forretress, Scarf Starmie or Latias, Rotom-A, Bulky Salamence, Machamp.

Quite a lot of changes suggested there, but I really do not think your original strategy was consistently viable. Good luck.
 
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