Battle Spot Community Create-a-Team 1: BuluTran Offense [+QR rental code!]

[cant say]

A little over a month ago I started our first Community Create-a-Team over in the Battle Spot forum, and this week we finished it! It was a fun project and we ended up with a pretty interesting team, so I'm here to present it to you guys.

TEAMBUILDING PROCESS

Week 1 started with everyone posting what Pokemon or cores they thought would be great to build around. There were some interesting nominations such as Lele + Mega Alakazam, Belly Drum Snorlax, Mega Camerupt, Rain, and Mega Lopunny + Aegislash. In the end though it was LegoFigure11 's Tapu Bulu + Heatran core with the most votes.

In Week 2 we recognised that this core gave as a weakness to common sweepers like (Mega) Blaziken, Mega Salamence, Excadrill, Z Bounce Gyarados, and Z Fly Landorus-T and Dragonite. A Fire-Water-Grass core seemed to be the theme of the week and a lot of competent Water-types were nominated such as Suicune, Tapu Fini, and Primarina, but Psynergy 's Mega Gyarados was the most popular.

Since our three were still quite weak to Mega Blaziken and physical attackers in general, week 3 had a lot of physically bulky Pokemon nominated like defensive Mega Altaria, Rocky Helmet Landorus-T, and Porygon2, as well as some offensive options like Tapu Koko and Mega Salamence. Voting was tied at the end of the week between ThickFatAzumarill 's Helmet Cresselia and Psynergy 's Mimikyu, so when we had a sudden death vote the community decided they preferred the idea of going with something bulky, as well as forming the popular CresTran core.

At this point we had three bulky mons and one that could provide offensive pressure (Bulu is kind of both so it's tricky) so week 4 featured a lot of offensive options like Mega Charizard X, Tapu Koko (again), Mega Manectric, Xurkitree, and Breloom, however ThickFatAzumarill 's Z Thunder Punch Blaziken won in a landslide.

Despite us not having a strong special attacker in the team, there were only two nominated in week 5. Instead the nominations featured things like Mega Kangaskhan, Excadrill, and three different Landorus-T! Focus Sash Tapu Lele nominated by yours truly managed to get ahead of LegoFigure11 's Sash Nihilego at the end though

We spent week 6 reviewing the team and suggesting any changes that would optimise it. Some proposed changes were big, and some small. These included things like swapping Cresselia and Mega Gyarados for Toxapex and Mega Salamence respectively, swapping Earthquake on Gyarados for something else, making Bulu more offensive, and swapping Blaziken for Mimikyu. In the end we kept it relatively simple and changed Cresselia for Landorus-T to help with our Mimikyu weakness, and fixed up Heatran's moveset and EVs.

~ The Team ~​

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest | Grassy Surge
Adamant | 236 HP / 164 Atk / 108 Spe
Wood Hammer | Horn Leech | Superpower | Rock Tomb

Tapu Bulu is a pretty interesting Pokemon in BSS, the various terrains are incredibly prominent but grass is the least common of the four. Since Bulu is slower than Lele and Koko it ensures they don't get boosted STABs in the lead matchup with allows you to tank their moves much better, and Bulu has a natural advantage over Fini so it's not trying to switch in to remove the Grassy Terrain against it. Since they're all special attackers (outside the rare physical Koko), AV Bulu is a great set for winning the terrain war, as well as checking common Pokemon like Thundurus-T, Primarina and Hydreigon. The Grassy Terrain is also great for Heatran (and Blaziken) as it somewhat reduces the weakness to Earthquake, which is why BuluTran is a common core.

Heatran @ Leftovers | Flash Fire
Calm Nature | 212 HP / 44 Def / 252 SpD
Magma Storm | Earth Power | Toxic | Protect

Heatran compliments Bulu by checking Fire, Flying, Ice, and Poison types, and appreciates Bulu's ability to check Water and Ground-types. It originally had Lava Plume and Substitute over Magma Storm and Earth Power respectively, but we changed them to improve our matchup against stall teams, Fire-types, Mega Gengar, and Tapu Koko.

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite | Intimidate > Mold Breaker
Jolly | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Waterfall | Ice Fang | Dragon Dance | Earthquake

Gyarados forms a neat Fire-Water-Grass core, and is chosen over its non-Mega forme due its ability to break through Mimikyu's Disguise with Mold Breaker, and get a little health back from Grassy Terrain. Ice Fang gives great neutral coverage alongside Waterfall, but most notably it destroys Mega Salamence. Earthquake may seem strange on a team with Bulu, but it's used pretty much for Tapu Koko so it doesn't revenge kill you. This can also be kept un-mega evolved in matches where Blaziken is a huge threat.

Landorus-T @ Rocky Helmet | Intimidate
Impish | 244 HP / 4 Atk / 236 Def / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Earthquake | Rock Tomb | Stealth Rock | U-turn

Lando-T provides a dedicated physical wall option for the team, and Stealth Rock setter. It's a fantastic Pokemon in the BSS meta and checks a number of common Pokemon for the team like Mega Salamence, Mimikyu, Mega Blaziken, Mega Charizard X, Garchomp, and Mega Mawile. Stealth Rock is great for breaking Focus Sashes and Dragonite's Multiscale, and chunking things like Volcarona and Charizard.

Blaziken @ Electrium Z | Speed Boost
Jolly | 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Flare Blitz | Thunder Punch | Swords Dance | Protect

Blaziken works well in this team as it makes the opponents second guess which mega evolution you're using at team preview, as well as almost single-handedly beating stall teams. Z Thunder Punch was chosen specifically for nuking Toxapex, Tapu Fini, and Gyarados, which normally love to come in on Blaziken and ruin our day. This does mean though that it doesn't have Fighting STAB for things like Chansey, Porygon2, Mamoswine, Heatran, Tyranitar, and Mega Kangaskhan so playing around those with the team instead of relying on Blaziken to outright destroy them is something to note.

Tapu Lele @ Focus Sash | Psychic Surge
Timid | 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Psyshock / Moonblast / Calm Mind / Taunt

Lele was chosen as a much-needed special attacker and fits nicely with the rest of the team. Focus Sash is good on almost anything, but Lele makes great use of it as a sweeper stopper because its Psychic/Fairy coverage allows it to KO many notable threats after "tanking" an attack from them. Such threats include (Mega) Blaziken, Mega Salamence, Volcarona, Thundurus-T, (Mega) Gyarados, Mega Gengar, Mega Lucario, and Dragonite. Psyshock is chosen for things like Chansey and Quiver Dane Volcarona. Taunt stops annoying random status moves and is just generally really useful, especially in lead matchups.


~ QR Code for the 3DS ~
​

I've uploaded this team to the Pokemon Global Link so you can rent it and ladder on your 3DS! First you'll need to log in or sign up to the PGL, then click the link below to get the QR code.

>> https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/BT-43F0-B444 <<

~ Shoutouts ~
​

This project wouldn't have been such a success without the people taking part in the thread, so a big thanks to phntem / ethan06 / Johta / NOVED / ThickFatAzumarill / Feesh Squad / P3DS / Solerme / Jhon / Doobzi / Fire Fist Ace / Deezcastforms / Moose And Goose / dogknees / 3heartschall / TimG57867 / The Squash / Thundersamurott / Alore / Garbagel / Ramza / Kanon90 / bobochan / Psynergy / YuguY / Ullar / greilmercenary9 / Fischgrat / RNGIsFatal / chemcoop

Also an extra huge shoutout to LegoFigure11 for providing the Bulu, Heatran, Blaziken, and Landorus for the QR version of the team. Without him I'd have to catch/breed them myself which would probably never happen anyway lol.

Hope you guys enjoy the team! Now go rep Smogon on the 3DS ladder

importable

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 164 Atk / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Rock Tomb

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Protect

Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Atk / 236 Def / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Tomb
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn

Blaziken @ Electrium Z
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Thunder Punch
- Swords Dance
- Protect

Tapu Lele @ Focus Sash
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Taunt

 

[RNGIsFatal]

I honestly don't think I deserved a shoutout because I made like one nomination throughout the entire project, but thanks for tagging me anyway.

Now some questions:
* How does one play around mixed Greninja with Gunk Shot? It seems to excel at breaking Bulu + Heatran core and it seems like it will be a pain in general.
* Would you mind explaining Heatran's EV spread? One of the most important 'mons it traps is stuff like Porygon2 and Toxapex (which you can't take down bc you lack Taunt) and I think making it a little bit specially defensive might be better.
* I frankly don't see how this team is prepared against Salamence; I know Sash Lele exists but it is mostly used as a lead, and Mega Salamence is usually paired with utility leads that carries Stealth Rock.

Edit: lol im blind I didn't see lando-t

Some of these might sound dumb bc I lack experience but I would be glad if you'd answer these. I'm glad I could be a part of this project even by being the smallest portion of it and thanks again for tag.

 

[TimG57867]

Sweet! This is the perfect way to get my first firsthand experience with the 3DS BSS. I'll probably get blown back a few times since I don't have much firsthand experience with See 6-> Pick 3-4 formats, but hopefully I get a feel for the current metagame and do the team justice. Will post my experience with the team once I've got enough battles under my belt.

 

[cant say]

I honestly don't think I deserved a shoutout because I made like one nomination throughout the entire project, but thanks for tagging me anyway.

Now some questions:
* How does one play around mixed Greninja with Gunk Shot? It seems to excel at breaking Bulu + Heatran core and it seems like it will be a pain in general.
* Would you mind explaining Heatran's EV spread? One of the most important 'mons it traps is stuff like Porygon2 and Toxapex (which you can't take down bc you lack Taunt) and I think making it a little bit specially defensive might be better.
* I frankly don't see how this team is prepared against Salamence; I know Sash Lele exists but it is mostly used as a lead, and Mega Salamence is usually paired with utility leads that carries Stealth Rock.

Edit: lol im blind I didn't see lando-t

Some of these might sound dumb bc I lack experience but I would be glad if you'd answer these. I'm glad I could be a part of this project even by being the smallest portion of it and thanks again for tag.

Heatran is specially defensive. Did you think SpD meant speed? Taunt would be cool for Porygon2 (and Cresselia and Chansey) but it's really hard to fit on the set without dropping something else more crucial. If anything you'd need to drop Earth Power but then you rely on Magma Storm for Gengar, Koko, Nihilego, and Marowak.

Gren is tricky to deal with for a lot of teams (why don't more people use Gren..?) and it mostly comes down to what moves it's using. I think getting it into range of Gyarados being able to KO is the easiest way of dealing with it, it doesn't OHKO anything on the team (except Bulu if Gunk Shot) so something should be able to get damage in before being KOed and sending out to revenge it.

 

[Solerme]

Dude this looks gorgeous! Well done to all the boys,

Oh, even if the team is done, i just saw now (like 30 secs ago lol) a Mega Gyarados spread that could probably be helpful:

@ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 84 HP / 172 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake

This always survive to Koko's Tbolt, and can take 2 Thunder Punches from a -1 Mega Metagross. The attack drop doesn't change much tbf

 

[P3DS]

The team looks very solid. I'll definitely try it out.
Quick note: The gyarados in the QR team is missing the HP EVs. Its got 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe. Only significant change is that there is an extra KO rolls from unboosted koko.

Hide

 

[TimG57867]

Alright. I think I have had a good amount of time with the team. This team was my first experience with Battle Spot (didn't play in XY cause of college), and as of righting I have 42 games in. I think I am currently 22 - 20. Yeah. I had a hot start, going 9 - 3 and was on the cusp of the 1600s. Then out of nowhere I lost like 6 games in a row and ever since it's been back and forth with this team. Some things I want to comment about that I never realized with console ladder:

• Matches take forever to find. And the matchmaking system kinda sucks. I got 1368 player at one point while at like 1550 that I lost to thanks to freeze hax and then at a later point I pitted against a 1682 player. The ladder can't be that sparse. It's freaking Pokemon.
• I swear 85% of ladder players are Japanese. It's like Western players don't care at all about online competitive play. Heck, when I check my ranking on the Global Link, I am just surrounded by tons of Japanese accounts. Do Western players only play on Smogon or do the Japanese just go that hard? lol
• Speaking of Japanese players, I see so much bizarre stuff being run by them on there. I've run into Sash-Metal Burst Sableye, SD Bewear, slow bulky Mega Kanghaskan, and more. Hard to anticipate everything.
• Weirdness aside it was good to get a feel for what's being run. I had no idea Shuckles were running Red Card. Wish I Taunted with Lele turn 1 instead of trying to predict a switch and setup. Live and learn I guess.

With that out of the way, I want to comment on what I like and don't like about the team.

The Good

• The Tapu Lele build on this team has put in a TON of work. Focus Sash and Taunt on Tapu Lele make it such an amazing fallback attacker and lead. It allows me to neuter opposing support mons and stop Trick Room on threats like Skarmory and Porygon2. I particularly remember one game where Lele put in all the work by taunting a Cloyster at a key moment. Psychic Terrain is also a boon for stopping Sucker Punches from Mawile (I got saved in one game where the guy forgot and SP'd anyway lol) and Prankster. The Focus Sash makes Lele a great endgame win con against setup mons like Salamence and opposing Gyarados. Psyshock also helps a lot against AV and slow specially defensive mons that try to come in after the sash is activated. The only move I haven't gotten a ton out of though is Calm Mind. Aside from capitalizing on the occasional switch out forced by Taunt or certain Tapu Fini matchups, I haven't gotten too much out of it. It's hard to have a healthy Lele out and just CM as you don't want to lose the sash without getting some damage of and while Lele's speed tier is nice, it's far from the best. Sad too as it's fastest thing in the team but I'll get into that later.
• The AV Bulu has a lot going for it. Assault Vest is a boon against the other Tapus as none bar the rare physical Koko can take it since it's slow. Horn Leech helps a ton with its longevity and Wood Hammer is a great nuke. (Recoil sucks though). And Rock Tomb has been great for capitalizing on switches. Bulu is also a godsend against Breloom as he's immune to Spore, eats all Breloom's attacks bar Choice Rock moves, and can beat it with Horn Leech.
• Gigavolt Havoc on Blaziken has been a lifesaver. The Electric coverage helps against a lot of the water types I meet and gives me a no risk option for damage. And of course, Gigavolt Havoc makes a great accurate nuke. It actually saved me in a game against a freaking Minimize Chansey.
• Gyarados has put in a ton of work. Intimidate makes switching off Bulu a little easier and DD gives me a chance to sweep or weaken everything. And being able to dump the extra Flying typing can really help at times. And of course, Ice Fang has been a godsend against all I think I should lead with it more so that it doesn't have to eat nasty hits on the switch.
• Rock Helmet on the Landorus is great for chipping those physical attackers and Stealth Rock has had its moments.

The Bad

• I have to echo what RNGIsFatal in regards to Greninja. It's certainly not a dealbreaker but BOY is it annoying. I actually only fought one opponent that brought it but the lineup I had got massacred by Gunk Shot. I led Bulu who died in 1. I eventually got rid of it but the team got chipped so bad it was hopeless. I think against Greninja teams it's best to lead either Gyarados or Tapu Lele. Probably Dos since Battle Bond isn't allowed on there and the ninja's rarely pack coverage for it. You'll probably want both as well just because of how unpredictable it is.
• I mentioned earlier that Lele's speed tier lovely. Unfortunately there in lies a probably as while the team has 2 boosters, it just sorely lacks immediate speed. No Pokemon above the 100 speed tier means foes like Salamence, Garchomp, and Gengar can be trouble depending on when they come out to play. This also makes opposing speed boosters like Cloyster and Salamence scarier as Gyardaos has to take a hit first to have a chance and +1 speed often isn't enough for regular Blaziken. (I also found after making a dumb play the hard way that Speed Boost doesn't boost on a switch. And yet Moody does. The heck Game Freak...) . Furthermore, the whole team sits in a weird speed zone where many threats can outspeed it can cause trouble while on the flip side, no of the Pokemon can really counter Trick Room well, particular the team's offensive forces. This makes Porygon2 a pain to face if it doesn't lead against Lele as it can get the TR and mess you up with Ice Beam and Tri Attack which can lead to a world of hax.
• Speaking of hax, the team's pretty susceptible to it. Do to the modest overall speed, you often have to take hits first and I think I've been frozen at least 6 times. 3 of those times really hurt my morale as they were matches where I made great plays and would have won if not for it. The most likely victim is Bulu since he'll be having to take plenty of Ice Fangs and Ice Beams. Porygon2's Tri Attack is also a threat thanks to TR and its bulk. There are times where I wish I had Tapu Fini just take the wretch hax out of the equation. Of course I'd be lying if I said it hasn't saved me a couple times (Flare Blitz burn on Celesteela for the win), but I do feel status hack in particular really hurts this team. I pretty much always bring Bulu if I see a Breloom since it's often Sash. Don't let OU fool you folks. While 6 v 6 sucks for him since teams can easily squeeze in Fini and Grass types, Breloom is still a demon in 3 v 3.
• Another issue on the speed dilemma is priority. Lele hits hard, but without a boosting item, it can only kill so much. Often the opponent finds opportunities to set up speed boosts on me at bad times, and I end up steamrolled if I can't debuff them with Intimidate, survive, or keep Lele's Sash intact. It's a shame no one on the team can have good priotity move to finish off those boosted monsters inches away from being defeated.
• While we're talking about Lele's Sash, I find that the team's a bit too reliant on it to get out of bad situations if you aren't ahead of the curve. And I see enough hazards and Sandstorm that keeping it intact for the vital moment can be hard. Shame there's no room for hazard removal.
• Another issue that arises from the team's pacing is health. Bulu is the only Pokemon on the team with recovery and he heals the opponent to wish is not good if Bulu gets haxed or invites in a scary foe like Mawile. I often have to switch but with no recovery on any of the mons, I get pressure into clean up range pretty often.
• Heatran hasn't put in as much work as I was hoping. Most teams only have a couple mons he goes ham on and Pokemon headed love to handle like Celesteela or Skarmory often have scary teammates that can exploit him. Plus Magma Storm's accuracy also makes me hesitant to fall back on him. Maybe I am just not confident enough in him, but I only brought him to like 3 games and only in 1 was he the MVP. (It was a weird meme team with Metronome Togekiss and a Ditto that also had Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist on it. Happy Halloween?)
• Landorus got used a fair bit more than Heatran, but I still too often felt that it was rather complecent for a Landorus. I think it's probably the team's overall bulky-balanced nature, but I found that Landorus didn't hit as hard as would like it too. The bulk was great, but since it can't recover health, it was often pressured. I couldn't just send him out against all the Electric types because I knew many of them were rocking HP Ice, and bulky waters, Porygon2, Pheramosa, etc just shut him down. I think I could have led with him more, but I often worried about the opposing team's mons being able to blast him from the get-go after I got Rocks (assuming I even lived). I would have been great if it could get Swords Dance or Rock Polish to punish switches better.
• I feel the team's type coverage in certain areas is lacking. Great a T-Punch is, no fighting move on Blaziken really sucks sometimes. A guy I fought today who brought Skarmory and Tyranitar was able to pivot all over my butt because Blaziken couldn't smack the Ttar. Bulu really wishes he had Play Rough to keep Salamence at bay but that's a problem for Bulu in general that I hope USUM. Honestly, Superpower has done spit for Bulu in my experience. It couldn't even do the damage to an SD Bewear that I really needed. (Should have brought Lele in that game. If Bewear gets Drain Punch look out). Most of the stuff I would hit with it often don't take much or -1 Att and Def suck for something in the back. I honestly don't think he'd be much worse off running Nature's Madness aside from, idk, Porygon2 or Chansey which Horn Leech is often good enough against. It especially sucks when against Skarmory and Celesteela who are often on teams too scary for me to bring Heatran. On that note, I think the team sorely lacks special Electric coverage. Blaziken only gets one Electric nuke and often doesn't get to SD safely. In the games I played against Celestella, I often wound up having my Bulu and Lele completely walled against it. If Lele had Thunderbolt instead of Calm Mind I could have won those games. It'd also make the Tapu Fini matchup easier since Fini usually overrides Lele's terrain.
• There were particular mons that were just a pain whenever they appeared. Bulky waters were hell to fight if I didn't have Bulu in tip top shape as they either took Gyardos's attacks like they were nothing, phazed me (one player whooped out a Z-Haze Tapu Fini on me. Holy crap). Blaziken often can't get up the Swords Dance and without Thunder Punch and Gigavolt Havoc often fall short of their KO's. Salamence was a pain as it often came in a Bulu and had Intimidate to weaken Rock Tomb. This often lead me into crummy Roost/DDance mindgames where I was forced to risk a switch or Rock Tomb against. Celestella and Skarmory often have field day since there's only 1 special attacker that's a Psychic type without T-Bolt and I can't always bring in Blaziken. And even if I do, they may either live an unboosted hit or have partners whittle me down. Due to the lack of Fighting coverage, Normal types could be a pain to kill without boosts and Eletric types with Volt Switch like Thunderus were also a grievance since they had HP Ice for Landorus, could Volt Switch out of Bulu, or fry Gyardos. And as I said earlier, Greninja can definitely threaten the team too along with Cloyster if it gets a Shell Smash.

Well that was my thoughts and experience. In many games, I obviously lost because of my lack of experience, making wild plays, my opponents being obtuse or 2 steps ahead, and just bad team choice. But I do feel this team has some key weaknesses that can make a long ladder streak rough. I would love to see the community have a shot at a new team for the next season that can incorporate more speed, priority, or recovery. The team doesn't auto-lose to much, but mistakes and hax can be very punishing. Then again that's probably just a major difference between 3v3 and 6v6.