Bulky Bodybagging Hazards!

[Dell]

What is going on everybody! I'm proud to present myself another successful team I've decided to create due to my liking of the tier so much, the fact that I think that I'm getting much better at team making, and just been trying out new stuff. I still use my VoltTurn team occasionally, but I'll be making use of this team a bit more.

This is a Bulky Offense team. Moreso, I am commonly expressed as a balanced team with a balanced playstyle. This team has gotten me consistent wins as well as my older balanced Volt-Turn team. My plan is to reach a consistent top placing on ladder with this team.

Altaria @Choice Specs
Ability: Natural Cure
Evs: 192 HP, 252 SpA, 64 Spe
Nature: Modest
~Draco Meteor
~Dragon Pulse
~Fire Blast
~Rest
Altaria is a pretty underated (offensively) threat that can handle lots of threats on the metagame thanks to the versatility and unpredictability that it stands out really well. The Choice Specs set allows me to check many of the physically defensive threats and punishing the Physical walls that could otherwise take hits pretty well at a healthy amount of HP. It functions as an important asset to this team due to my sweepers being offensive on the physical side, moreso. With Draco Meteor alone, Altaria can score many KO's on those specific threats quite easily, while also being very difficult in general to switch to. Fire Blast makes quick work of pesky Steel types. Dragon/Fire is such an amazing coverage, as it hits everything in NU for at least neutral damage. Dragon Pulse is there, incase Draco Meteor isn't necessary, and it doesn't cause special drops. Rest is to shrug off damage if I still could make use of Altaria, then I could switch out, activating Nature Cure. Altaria is a very important role for the team's job of eliminate potentially walling threats of the rest of my team.

Cacturne @Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Evs: 252 Atk, 188 HP, 20 Def, 20 SpD, 28 Spe
Nature: Adamant
~Spikes
~Sucker Punch
~Seed Bomb
~Substitute
What a Spikey scarecrow to say the least. Awkward to take a glance at, especially the face, but that only shows a lot of what it is capable of. Access to Water absorb, and having a nice round of favorable matchups with other entry hazard users, and defensive Water, Psychic (and offensive) and Grass types, offer Cacturne many opportunities to shelter itself behind a Substitute, with such, it can freely setup Spikes or Sucker Punch a weakened or frail switch-in. This makes it so great at what it does, which is applying more pressure to the opponents team with Spikes and revenge killing capabilities. The entry hazards are great to this team as it allows my team to clean off really well late game with the combination of Cacturne and Braviary. All in all, a possibly underated threat that can really apply pressure on the opponent's team.

Misdreavus @Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
Evs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpD
Nature: Bold
~Will-o-Wisp
~Taunt
~Pain Split
~Shadow Ball
The main selling point of this team is entry hazards, and Misdreavus shows of importance as an excellent spinblocker and quite the reliable physical wall. It's job is pretty obvious, with it's nice support utility. Will-o-Wisp further shuts down physical attackers, and a reliable way to spread some type of status, since this team doesn't carry Toxic. Heal Bell is used more than Taunt, but that job is given to Miltank. Taunt works well, as it shuts down opposing walls and prevents it from being setup or Taunt bait itself, along with the relable STAB of Shadow Ball. All of this provides great support with my job of keeping entry hazards on the field.

Miltank @Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Evs: 252 HP, 252 Def (may try SpD, would appreciate someone's input on that idea), 4 SpD
Nature: Impish
~Milk Drink
~Stealth Rock
~Heal Bell
~Body Slam
Miltank, with it's great support capabilities and ability to take hits really well with a reliable recovery move, is a welcome addition here. It prevents physical threats that Misdreavus can't deal with from breaking through this team, which is always a plus. Stealth Rock is very essential here too, for added entry hazard damage and even prior damage to those who aren't affected by Spikes. Heal Bell is to make the best out of this Bulky Offense team, as it keeps them from wearing down so much from status. Body Slam for the obvious STAB, and paralysis support is pretty useful too, since most of this team happens to be relatively slow. The key to bodybagging is to not get bodybagged yourself, and Miltank makes sure that doesn't happen as long is it's there to perform its job!

Braviary @Choice Scarf
Ability: Keen Eye
Evs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 HP
Nature: Adamant
~Brave Bird
~U-Turn
~Superpower
~Return
Braviary is my other staple option when it comes to revenge killing, its main role for the team. When SR users are removed, Braviary is capable of ripping holes on the opposing team with its STAB attacks. U-turn is there for momentum and scouting, while Return is there if I can't afford taking too much recoil from Brave Bird or to hit Electric types. Braviary's revenge killing, while often replaceable, sure gets the job done.

Cryogonal @Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Evs: 252 HP, 252 SpD, 4 SpA
Nature: Calm
~Rapid Spin
~Recover
~Haze
~Ice Beam
Obviously a great Rapid Spinner and special wall sums up Cryogonal. Arguably the best of its job in NU due to it walling a large portion of threatening special sweepers. What makes things good for Cryogonal is not only its great base 105 Speed, but the fact that it's not into pressure as much due to Levitate, giving it an immunity to hazards that are potentially more dangerous hazards. Haze is there to stop opponents from trying to set up, which is obviously nice, especially if you have no phazer. Ice beam is for STAB and blah blah preventing complete taunt bait. Cryogonal is a staple to this team because it prevents my team from excessive pressure from enemy hazards.


I'll be looking forward to listing threats as critique helps.

Exports:

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Altaria (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 192 HP / 252 SAtk / 60 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Rest

Cacturne (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Def / 20 SDef / 28 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Sucker Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Substitute

Misdreavus (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Miltank (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Heal Bell
- Milk Drink
- Body Slam
- Stealth Rock

Braviary (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Keen Eye
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Return

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Haze

 

[watashi]

This is a nice looking spike stacking team Agent Dell, I think I might have faced it a few times on the ladder and if I recall correctly, it's a pain to battle against. With that being said, I see huge weaknesses to two common threats in the tier, Magmortar and Absol.

Let's start with Magmortar; it gets easy switch-ins on Misdreavus or Cryogonal and can proceed to do some serious damage to your team. Life Orb and Expert Belt versions are the most dangerous as they can switch around attacks and 2HKO every member on your team. Most versions carry HP Ice so Altaria cannot check it safely. Your only chance is to revenge it with Braviary or Sucker Punch it with Cacturne, but before you can do that, something is almost guaranteed to die. Luckily, Magmortar is damaged heavily by hazards, which means it usually will only get a few chances to come in and wreck. To fix this problem, I suggest you change Miltank's spread to a specially defensive one like you hinted you might do. This allows Miltank to serve as a temporary check to Magmortar, allowing it to survive one Focus Blast.

Equally threatening to this team is Absol. If it manages to grab a SD, you will be in serious trouble as nothing can take a hit. It will be hard-pressed to find a chance to set up, but even unboosted variants will do a lot of damage to your team. I don't want make a huge change and ruin the theme of this team, so I would suggest that you change Misdreavus to a SubPlot set, which looks something like this:

Misdreavus (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 8 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 244 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot

I've used this Misdreavus successfully on teams as a standalone sweeper and a spin blocker. It catches opponents off guard on a regular basis. With the spread and some prediction, you can hit Absol for a huge chunk of damage with HP Fighting and maybe even pull off a sweep. It's not the most reliable way of beating Absol, but it's still better than taking a Night Slash to the face and doing nothing. Most rapid spinners are still either beat one on one or will take huge damage in the process. Magmortar can also no longer switch in safely against this Misdeavus since it is outsped and KOed after rocks by a +2 Shadow Ball.

Great job building the team and I hope these changes will help you out!

 

[Dell]

Thanks man! And yeah, I think I have that syndrome of being potentially vulnerable to Magmortar most of the time on every team I make. I thought about using Flareon over Cryogonal, but it's a hard decision because then I would have to make changes with my Stealth Rock user.

Offensive Misdreavus and Specially Defensive Miltank sounds interesting. I do have a fear of becoming more vulnerable to Flying types and Emboar (particularly the Choice Band versions). Thanks for you input. I'll give those two recommended changes a shot!

 

[spuds4ever]

Agreeing with FLCL's point. I think you'd be much better off running a curse set on miltank with maximum special investment to handle magmotar better. Just running curse, body slam, milk drink, and EQ should work quite nicely even without scrappy but it wouldn't be able to beat misdreavus or haunter, which might be an issue.

 

[WhiteDMist]

Hey Dell! I've faced this before enough to know how annoying it is to break. I agree with the above sentiments about Magmortar and Absol. I feel that Absol may be a bigger threat simply because it can single-handidly wipe out your team if it has Night Slash and Sucker Punch. Neither of them like taking a hit though, but you'll still lose at least one team member to both. Opposing Braviary and other Flying-types can also do some major damage to your team. The problem with a Curse Miltank is that you lose Stealth Rocks to dissuade them from switching in and wrecking you.

I managed to break a good chunk of this team with my Banded Pinsir, since only Misdreavus can wall it (she still hates taking an Earthquake though). Much as I hate to recommend this, perhaps you should replace Braviary with a Scarfed Rotom-S? It can tank the Flying, Bug, and Fighting moves that hurt your team and is a great revenge killer. Plus, it helps put pressure on your opponent on the special side, since very few teams carry multiple Special walls. The only problem is that you still have trouble handling Rock-types, but usually you can wall them with Missy. A big benefit is that Rotom can live an unboosted LO Sucker Punch from Absol and Thunderbolt it. I'm afraid that you will still have to play around Magmortar, but with Rotom-S, you can afford to not run Stealth Rock and make Miltank a Curser.

 

[Dell]

Thanks for rating WhiteD! And you were right, I did have to play around your Pinsir as it was probably the biggest threat you had against my team. You're right, that's also a good deal other offensive mosters that I have to watch out for. I was talking to No Luck Involved and he suggested that I replace Fire Blast with Hidden Power Ground, since Braviary already handles the Grass types very well, and I can get the stronger hit on things like Probopass, Bastiodon, and the like. What do you think of this?

Rotom-S sounds like a good idea. if Absol does somehow get a boost, I can somewhat disrupt it with Trick, though this isn't the most reliable thing to do. Curse Miltank sounds nifty as well, but I felt that it would be a risky bet since Flying-Types can do lots of damage in this team.

EDIT: Just posted my Export here if you want to test this team out!

 

[WhiteDMist]

Well, seeing as either way, you won't OHKO Probopass or Bastiodon, I would say HP Ground is the better option if only for the guaranteed 2HKO. Draco Meteor does more to Grass-types in any case. Sadly, I can't test this out until Sunday, since I have packing to do today and I have graduation tomorrow. But if I have useable internet, I'll definitely test your team out!

 

[AyoGabos]

Delllllllllllllll,

Wussup, man. I really like the team, and your descriptions seem to show that this team and its members all serve their roles very effectively; I really love the Altaria set, especially the Rest+Natural Cure combo. The use of entry hazards combo'd with a spinblocker combo'd with a spinner of your own really shows the synergy of the team. Having said that, though, there is one major problem I see with this team:

You know me and the team I play with, the How I Wet Your Mother rain team. The combination of a Gurdurr plus a fast water Pokemon with access to an Ice-type move (either Gorebyss or Floatzel) can wreak havoc on this team being that every Pokemon is weak to either Ice or Fighting (with Misdreavus being handled easily by Gurdurr's Guts Payback). As much as I would hate to say it, I would replace Altaria with the following set:

Gardevoir @ Leftovers
Trait: Trace
EVs: 100 HP / 252 SpAtk / 152 SpDef
Modest Nature (+SpAtk, - Atk)
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Light Screen/Reflect
- Protect/Heal Bell/Will-O-Wisp

This Gardevoir set will help you counter Gurdurr and Water-types with Psychic and Thunderbolt respectively. The EV set is to satisfy your desire for bulkier attackers, sacrificing speed for longevity. The final two moveslots are literally anything-goes, seeing as the only two vital moves on this set for your team are Thunderbolt and Psychic. Will-O-Wisp can provide some extra crippling opportunities while Screens can help with defenses.

Another suggestion I would make would be to replace Miltank with the standard Tangela set, depending on how much you value Stealth Rock. I haven't personally tested the team, although I will after I am done laddering with mine, but if you feel SR is vital then don't make the change. I am saying so because you can use Heal Bell on Gardevoir, so you won't sacrifice that, and Tangela has access to Sleep Powder and is much bulkier defensively than Miltank with access to Regenerator. Good luck in the future, bud, and I look forward to talking to you again :)