The Team
With the return to Gen 4sleep mechanics, I knew I had to make a team centered around my second
favorite Pokemon of all time, Suicune. CroCune is one of my favorite sets of all time, and in this bulky offense metagame I think it is poised to be a huge threat to anybody who underestimates it. After experimenting with a good number of teammates, this is the group I've come up with.______________________________________________________
Hard Body (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Hard Body (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spd
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
A beast of a setup sweeper, CroCune has everything you could ever want out of a centerpiece for
your bulky offense team. Reliable recovery, pseudo status immunity and incredible natural bulk make it a great Calm Mind user, and mono water typing is probably one of the best in terms of hybrid offense/defense. On top of the return to Gen 4 sleep mechanics, Cune got another small buff in the nerf to critical hits. This allows me to setup without fear of hax ending my sweep so long as I keep him at decent health. The set is pretty much standard, aside from a minor change in EV's in order to outspeed defensive Rotom-W variants, and this is what I've used as a base for team building.
Oscar (Ferrothorn) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
Ferrothorn was one of the first additions to the team, and makes an excellent partner to Suicune. I
wanted to get some form of hazards on the team before getting too far into the building process, and Ferrothorn covers that role beautifully. Grass/Steel typing lets it resist both of Suicunes weaknesses (Grass 4x, Electric 2x), and its sheer physical bulk allows it to sponge the physical hits that Cune doesn't want to take. Leech Seeding before a switch into Cune is incredibly useful for setting up, and because Suicune resists Ferro's 4x fire weakness these opportunities come about pretty often. Rocky Helmet/Iron Barbs Helps widdle away at physical threats, and it also allows him to operate as death fodder by giving passive damage and providing a safe switch in. Leech Seed and Protect make up for lack of Leftovers Recovery, and Gyro Ball prevents Kyurem-B from setting up a Sub.
Fiya Powa (Charizard-Mega-X) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
One thing I noticed while testing out my teams is that opponents with multiple setup sweepers gave
me the most trouble. Originally I had been running a Sub + 3 attacks Kyurem-B in this spot do to it's ability to setup on many of Suicune's counters, namely Rotom-W. The problem was that it had a hard time breaking through tougher walls and I felt that I could upgrade.Enter Charizard-X, who shares the same ability to switch in on Suicune's counters with resistances to
Grass (4x) and Electric (2x). Although the moveset is pretty much standard, the EV's are highly customized to get the most out of Charizard in terms of my team. It is modeled somewhat after Bulky Gyarados, at least in terms of Speed investment. With only 16 EV's Charizard reaches 264 Speed, certainly not standard. However, after one Dragon Dance it is able to outspeed 252+ base 130's, and after two DD's it outspeeds Scarfed base 110's. Because Charizard comes in on slower Pokes like Sp.Def Celebi I am always able to get up a DD, and so the remaining 240 EV's are dumped into bulk to help make up for it's lack of priority. It also has the added benefit of giving an odd health number for Stealth Rock. Charizard does an excellent job of punching through opposing teams and softening them up for Suicune, and sometimes manages to secure the sweep himself.
Pidgey (Togekiss) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Defog
- Thunder Wave
After deciding to use a Charizard I next needed to find a Poke who could reliably remove Stealth
Rock. Togekiss, with access to defog, does this wonderfully. It also has a great typing to cover for Charizard's weaknesses with immunity to ground and dragon, as well as good utility with access to reliable recovery and status. Spreading T-wave works great with a slower bulky team, helping to check HO teams and cripple opposing setup sweepers. Stab Air Slash helps get rid of Breloom, a big threat to Suicune, and ParaFlinch is always nice when you are the one using it.
Hodor (Conkeldurr) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Mach Punch
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Knock Off
Assault Vest Conkledurr. Not much to say here, aside from knocking off items he operates somewhat
independantly from the team, just beating things to hell and back. His bulk with assault vest does take a bit of pressure off of Togekiss in terms of sponging special attacks, but I would say the most valuable thing he brings to the team is priority and status absorption with Guts. In some rare cases he actually makes for a pretty good lead, taking down at least one or two pokes and knocking off items everywhere. Conkledurr has excellent staying power with Drain Punch, I can't think of many games where he hasn't managed at least one kill before being taken out.
Betty White (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- U-turn
Landorus-T rounds out the team, providing good support with Intimidate as well as momentum with
U-Turn. I decided to go with a scarf variant rather than bulky like the rest of the team as I felt I needed at least one Poke with some speed. He is pretty much my standard lead unless I see an opportunity for something else to do damage, and a quick U-Turn gives me that immediate advantage that helps a lot in the first few turns of a match. His electric and ground immunities get him a good amount of safe switch ins due to the nature of my team, which in turn helps to get me momentum by providing more opportunities for U-Turn. Suicune also resists his two most common weaknesses in water and ice, enabling them to play off each other quite well.______________________________________________________
So that's the team, at the moment I'm hovering around 2000 on the showdown ladder and basically
I'm just looking for general input, maybe more ideal EV spreads or Poke suggestions. Please understand that the whole point of this team is to use Suicune, so do not tell me to replace him. Also, while I don't mind suggestions to swap out a Poke or two for more synergy or whatever, don't tear the team apart altogether unless you can strongly back up why so many things would need to be replaced. Thanks in advance for your input!
