Hey all! This is my second RMT. I posted a lame sandstorm team on here a while ago which i found uninteresting. So I'm back with what, in my opinion, is a more interesting team. It is rather balanced with two walls and 3 bulky offense and one average durability poke. The name is derived from the fact that Cresselia is the glue that holds the team together, but more about that later! On to the team building process.
The Team Building Process
The team started with me getting totally pwned by a typical Breloom. I saw how deadly it was and wanted that power on a team of mine.
I wanted a water poke to absorb fire moves aimed at Breloom, and what better than a poke that double resists it? It also added the second part of the Fire-Water-Grass combo, all i needed was a third.
Thus Infernape made it's debut in my team. It would be a fast revenge killer that my team seemed to be lacking and completed the Fire-Water-Grass combo. But where to go from there?
I started looking through some recent RMTs for a lead that could get down Stealth Rock or kill opposing leads. Lead empoleon caught my eye so I figured i would try him out.
With how many red metallic bugs there are out there i figured I would add a Megnezone to keep them at bay, and set up on them at the same time.
I noticed I was quite deficient on a definate wall. I didn't want anything to common so that i could keep people guessing and i also wanted something that had roughly equal defense and spcial defense. Cresselia was quickly added to the team without ever looking back.
I quickly realized that Breloom didn't fit the team or my playstyle. I thought for a while on this one. I tried many diffirent things but most of them had bad synergy with typing or just in general. I noticed I was having trouble with sleeping pokemon. So i decided to go with a sleep talking Machamp. He fit right in.
After a while of playing the team i noticed that infernape never did anything. He all around failed in my team. I was dying everytime to anything with dragon dance. So Gyarados' and Salamence's #1 counter found its home in my team. So there you have it! On to the Pokemon themselves.
The Team in Depth
Empoleon @ Focus Sash
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 104 Atk/52 Def/252 SAtk
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Surf
- Aqua Jet
- Grass Knot
Empoleon has been my favorite lead to use to date. He never fails to either KO a poke (or 2) or set up stealth rocks, most often both. If I have to choose, I usually will go for getting a kill rather than rocks, which sometimes surprises foes. He helps me go offensive right off the bat, but if i suspect a protect or a switch or im not in any danger, yet won't do any damage, ill go for rocks. All around awesome poke, so I'll tell you how i fair against todays top 10 OU leads.
-Surf first. If they earthquaked, i switch to Kindra or Cress to take the Bullet Punch. If they used SR go for the 2HKO with Aqua Jet.
-I always win here. I use SR first, as they usually protect to scout for Grass Knot, use SR themselves, or switch to something to take a grass knot. If they did either of the first two, I procede to Grass Knot, otherwise switch to a counter.
-Another flawless win. Surf>Aqua Jet always KOs. Most times they don't even break my sash, and just use SR or taunt me.
-See Azelf^
-The only lead I commonly have problems with. I just go with the basic strategy of Surf>Aqua Jet. Usually they trick me with a choice scarf, which makes SR hard to get down. If i see that im not going to be able to kill it, I switch to Kingdra to take the Iron Head and go from there.
-Not an easy one either. I take the Fake Out then go for Surf>Aqua Jet. I lose if they used Close Combat and have vacuum wave.
-I Either try to kill it with Surf>Aqua Jet or switch to Machamp to take the sleep. It depends on how I'm feeling.
-I skip Surf and head Straight to Aqua Jet, Then go from there.
-Another win for Empoleon with Surf>Aqua Jet.
-See Tyranitar^
Machamp @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk/252 HP/4 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dynamic Punch
- Payback
Machamp fills many key roles in my team. He absorbs sleep/conditions, he hits hard physically, and he can take hits himself thanks to rest. I chose to go with payback so I don't get walled by ghost types. He's my go to guy on blind switches. This is because he has something for every situation. The wildly overpowered Dynamic Punch and its 100% chance of confusion makes even pokes that resist it think twice about staying in. Restalk Machamp punches holes in any unprepared team. He's Cresselia's best friend. She shrugs off most anything that would put Machamp in a coffin, and viceversa. He rightly deserves the title of second most important pokemon on my team.
Kingdra @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 176 HP/252 Atk/80 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Substitute
Kingdra is my main set up sweeper. It does it's job well. It's Strategy is quite simple. Come in on something you resist or can scare out, Sub, DD, Sweep. Substitute makes a great choice over Hydro Pump, giving Kingdra added bulk, immunity to Special Conditions, and It helps in easing prediction. Leftovers helps this thing take advantage of its excelent typing and general bulk and recovers health when behind a substitute. I opted for Swift Swim over Sniper, as a critical hit coming off of a DD is usually enough to kill anything anyways, plus it allows me to take advantage of Rain Dance teams. Over all a bulky pokemon thanks to its few weaknesses and common resistances.
Porygon2 @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP/216 Def/40 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Thunder Wave
Porygon2 with the Defensive Duck set up is the perfect counter to Gyarados, Salamence, and Heatran which were the bane of my team. Thunder Wave was choseon in the end over toxic, as it is my only means of crippling heatran and taking him down. He's half of the teams defensive core that take the harder hits that would destroy the rest of my other pokes. Thunderbolt was chosen over discharge so I can hit harder and get more KO's that discharge wouldn't be able to achive. Trace is the miracle ability that makes this thing tick (or quack). It's uses are numerous. It can reflect an intimidate, copy a levitate on a predicted earthquake, and regain health on a Fire Blast from a Heatran. This little duck protects the team from the fearsome Dragon Dancers of OU without breaking a sweat.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SAtk/252 Spe/4 HP
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Explosion
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hp Fire
What team isn't complete with a choice user? Scarfzone allows me to hit those fast pokemon like gengar and Lucario that my team has particular trouble with. Hp Fire over Hp Ice because my team has enough ice attacks as it is, and kills any scizor before it can fire off its fatal superpower. This set has completely changed my mind about swapping Magnezone out. It can trap and kill a lowered health Bronzong, a Scarmory, a Scizor, and a lowered Metagross with no trouble at all. It's immense speed boost from Choice Scarf outspeeds most anything unboosted and punishes them with STAB Thunderbolts coming off of its massive SAtk of 359. Explosion is to get that final boom off when im low on health or theres no better option than to sacrifice him.
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Hp/252 Def/4 SpD
modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
The star of the team! Cresselia is the overall bulkiest OU pokemon making it a perfect sponge for hits. Which is its use in the team. His basic strategy is come in on something that won't 2HKO it and get back to full health with moonlight, sneaking in calm minds when it gets the chance. This movepool walls almost anything specially based for indefinate amounts of time, all the while waiting to unleash its STAB psychic or Ice Beam once it hits full or when I'm predicting a switch. Cresselia is the glue that holds the team together, for without it, there would be nothing that could take as many powerful hits as it does. Cresselia forces a lot of switches due to its gigantic bulk. I don't know why I don't see more Cresselias.
(I often wonder if Hp Fire would be the better choice, as Cresselia serves as amazing Scizor bait)
Notes About Nothing
I play Shoddy Battle for fun, so my CRE sucks, but i don't care :P
All Ev's are taken from the Strategy Pokedex, so for info on them, you can just look it up if I didn't explain it.
I finished wrighting this at exactly 3:18 in the morning so a big apology to everyone out there reading this, as i feel i put many unnecessary capital letters, but my sense of good judgment on what to capitalize and what not to capitalize is highly jeopardized due to my lack of sleep, so without further ado, goodnight, and enjoy!
Edits in Red!
The Team Building Process
I wanted a water poke to absorb fire moves aimed at Breloom, and what better than a poke that double resists it? It also added the second part of the Fire-Water-Grass combo, all i needed was a third.
Thus Infernape made it's debut in my team. It would be a fast revenge killer that my team seemed to be lacking and completed the Fire-Water-Grass combo. But where to go from there?
The Team in Depth
Empoleon @ Focus Sash
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 104 Atk/52 Def/252 SAtk
Rash nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Surf
- Aqua Jet
- Grass Knot
Empoleon has been my favorite lead to use to date. He never fails to either KO a poke (or 2) or set up stealth rocks, most often both. If I have to choose, I usually will go for getting a kill rather than rocks, which sometimes surprises foes. He helps me go offensive right off the bat, but if i suspect a protect or a switch or im not in any danger, yet won't do any damage, ill go for rocks. All around awesome poke, so I'll tell you how i fair against todays top 10 OU leads.
Machamp @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk/252 HP/4 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dynamic Punch
- Payback
Machamp fills many key roles in my team. He absorbs sleep/conditions, he hits hard physically, and he can take hits himself thanks to rest. I chose to go with payback so I don't get walled by ghost types. He's my go to guy on blind switches. This is because he has something for every situation. The wildly overpowered Dynamic Punch and its 100% chance of confusion makes even pokes that resist it think twice about staying in. Restalk Machamp punches holes in any unprepared team. He's Cresselia's best friend. She shrugs off most anything that would put Machamp in a coffin, and viceversa. He rightly deserves the title of second most important pokemon on my team.
Kingdra @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 176 HP/252 Atk/80 Spe
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Outrage
- Substitute
Kingdra is my main set up sweeper. It does it's job well. It's Strategy is quite simple. Come in on something you resist or can scare out, Sub, DD, Sweep. Substitute makes a great choice over Hydro Pump, giving Kingdra added bulk, immunity to Special Conditions, and It helps in easing prediction. Leftovers helps this thing take advantage of its excelent typing and general bulk and recovers health when behind a substitute. I opted for Swift Swim over Sniper, as a critical hit coming off of a DD is usually enough to kill anything anyways, plus it allows me to take advantage of Rain Dance teams. Over all a bulky pokemon thanks to its few weaknesses and common resistances.
Porygon2 @ Leftovers
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP/216 Def/40 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Thunder Wave
Porygon2 with the Defensive Duck set up is the perfect counter to Gyarados, Salamence, and Heatran which were the bane of my team. Thunder Wave was choseon in the end over toxic, as it is my only means of crippling heatran and taking him down. He's half of the teams defensive core that take the harder hits that would destroy the rest of my other pokes. Thunderbolt was chosen over discharge so I can hit harder and get more KO's that discharge wouldn't be able to achive. Trace is the miracle ability that makes this thing tick (or quack). It's uses are numerous. It can reflect an intimidate, copy a levitate on a predicted earthquake, and regain health on a Fire Blast from a Heatran. This little duck protects the team from the fearsome Dragon Dancers of OU without breaking a sweat.
Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SAtk/252 Spe/4 HP
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Explosion
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hp Fire
What team isn't complete with a choice user? Scarfzone allows me to hit those fast pokemon like gengar and Lucario that my team has particular trouble with. Hp Fire over Hp Ice because my team has enough ice attacks as it is, and kills any scizor before it can fire off its fatal superpower. This set has completely changed my mind about swapping Magnezone out. It can trap and kill a lowered health Bronzong, a Scarmory, a Scizor, and a lowered Metagross with no trouble at all. It's immense speed boost from Choice Scarf outspeeds most anything unboosted and punishes them with STAB Thunderbolts coming off of its massive SAtk of 359. Explosion is to get that final boom off when im low on health or theres no better option than to sacrifice him.
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Hp/252 Def/4 SpD
modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
The star of the team! Cresselia is the overall bulkiest OU pokemon making it a perfect sponge for hits. Which is its use in the team. His basic strategy is come in on something that won't 2HKO it and get back to full health with moonlight, sneaking in calm minds when it gets the chance. This movepool walls almost anything specially based for indefinate amounts of time, all the while waiting to unleash its STAB psychic or Ice Beam once it hits full or when I'm predicting a switch. Cresselia is the glue that holds the team together, for without it, there would be nothing that could take as many powerful hits as it does. Cresselia forces a lot of switches due to its gigantic bulk. I don't know why I don't see more Cresselias.
(I often wonder if Hp Fire would be the better choice, as Cresselia serves as amazing Scizor bait)
Notes About Nothing
I play Shoddy Battle for fun, so my CRE sucks, but i don't care :P
All Ev's are taken from the Strategy Pokedex, so for info on them, you can just look it up if I didn't explain it.
I finished wrighting this at exactly 3:18 in the morning so a big apology to everyone out there reading this, as i feel i put many unnecessary capital letters, but my sense of good judgment on what to capitalize and what not to capitalize is highly jeopardized due to my lack of sleep, so without further ado, goodnight, and enjoy!
Edits in Red!
