Hey guys,
I've largely had my fun with this team so I thought I'd bring it to you and maybe make a few improvements before I move on. When I created the team, I set out with two main goals, to create a competitive team out of a lot of the stronger UU Pokemon but at the same time run some interesting sets on Pokemon I genuinely enjoy.
So here it is, Criminally Underused (Peaked 115 on the Smogon PO server)
Bazinga - Alakazam
Timid, Magic Guard, Focus Sash, 252 SpA, 252 SpE, 4 SpD
Encore
Shadow Ball
Psyshock
Focus Blast
[I often lead off with Alakazam but I don't mind shifting him down in the order depending on what I'm facing. He has won me many games with a late game focus sash due to Magic Guard, Alakazam was one of my favourite Pokemon in previous generations and I'm glad the dream world has given him a new lease on life. His attacks are for coverage and I decided to give him encore to lock special walls into set up moves/heal bell etc. so they cannot attack me/recover]
Bertie - Herracross
Adamant, Guts, Leftovers, 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Att
Bulk Up
Megahorn
Revenge
Stone Edge
[I know you're probably thinking, wtf is up with the nature and EV spread but because Herracross is naturally an offensive powerhouse with low defense, giving him an attack boosting nature and investing into Def works out better than giving him a defense boosting nature and attack EVs. This is a rather unconventional set, but let me tell you his typing more than makes up for the fact he's not the bulkiest guy around and he's powerful enough that a defensively invested Hitmontop won't stay in on him after a couple of boosts. Guts is really the key to making this set work as it turns something that's normally debilitating into a bonus to rip into the enemy team]
Dantyllew - Whimsicott
Bold, Prankster, Leftovers, 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpE
Encore
Substitute
Toxic
Leech Seed
[If OH GOD NO, IT'S WHIMSICOTT is your first reaction you probably already understand why this Poke is in my team. Whimsicott is without a doubt my favourite Gen 5 Poke, it's just plain adorable and irritating and nothing is more satisfying than getting it set up on an unprepared opponent. Whimsicott requires a bit of prediction to be effective, but played correctly can single-handedly win games, block sweeps and stall out an opponent]
Wheezy - Empoleon
Calm, Torrent, Leftovers, 252 HP, 252 SpD, 4 SpA
Stealth Rocks
Scald
Ice Beam
Roar
[Empoleon is the defensive glue that holds this team together, he is the primary receiver of Blizzard/Ice-beam which is ever so common and has resistances to most forms of special attacks. He spends a lot of time fishing for burns and phasing and generally counters a lot of my weaknesses, his own weaknesses are easily covered by Herracross and Whimsicott. I admit I rely on him too much sometimes, but honestly he's part of the reason this team is so successful]
Mickey - Nidoking
Timid, Sheer Force, Choice Scarf, 252 SpA, 252 SpE, 4 Hp
Earth Power
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Fire Blast
[With awesome type coverage and quite decent damage, as well as a way to counter stall Zapdos and toxic spikes, Nidoking is a very essential part of my team. The fact he is scarfed is more for the surprise factor than anything else, he doesn't really have the speed to outspeed enemy scarfers but is deceptively fast outside of that. I've been running this set prior to it becoming the Smogon standard, so I've got a lot of shock kills from the scarf, unfortunately enemies are starting to become more wary and my team is already heavily invested in special attackers. I'm thinking of swapping him to a life orb variant with Thunder, Fire Blast, Hone Claws and Earthquake, or something similar]
Lumiere - Chandelure
Timid, Flash Fire, Air Balloon, 252 SpE, 252 SpA, 4 SpD
Fire Blast
Energy Ball
Shadow Ball
Calm Mind
[Possessing the highest special attack outside of ubers and four immunities with the balloon, Chandelure is a definite threat for my opponent. The strength of Chandelure is that it often forces switches if played correctly and can generally outspeed a lot of Pokemon that decide to come in to wall it, after a couple of boosts even Chansey won't hang around (and generally can't hit it possessing only S-Toss). Despite the fact the set possesses Calm mind, I often do not use it, it's there for if I get stalled by opponents that can't actually harm me, I used to run Pain-split but I found just damaging my opponent generally did more and Chandelure wouldn't gain much survivability out of it without a sub (which are pathetically weak) as a lot of opponents ohko it. Funnily enough the set used to run attract, if you get the name, as a bit of a joke but it was occasionally useful given all Chansey are female]
All in all this team has been highly successful already, despite the fact it is heavily invested in special attackers I have plenty of wall breakers and ways to boost/encore my opponent and break through using brute force. The pokemon on this team are highly powerful and I've won games with all of them being the last Poke in at the end.
I've largely had my fun with this team so I thought I'd bring it to you and maybe make a few improvements before I move on. When I created the team, I set out with two main goals, to create a competitive team out of a lot of the stronger UU Pokemon but at the same time run some interesting sets on Pokemon I genuinely enjoy.
So here it is, Criminally Underused (Peaked 115 on the Smogon PO server)
Bazinga - Alakazam
Timid, Magic Guard, Focus Sash, 252 SpA, 252 SpE, 4 SpD
Encore
Shadow Ball
Psyshock
Focus Blast
[I often lead off with Alakazam but I don't mind shifting him down in the order depending on what I'm facing. He has won me many games with a late game focus sash due to Magic Guard, Alakazam was one of my favourite Pokemon in previous generations and I'm glad the dream world has given him a new lease on life. His attacks are for coverage and I decided to give him encore to lock special walls into set up moves/heal bell etc. so they cannot attack me/recover]
Bertie - Herracross
Adamant, Guts, Leftovers, 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Att
Bulk Up
Megahorn
Revenge
Stone Edge
[I know you're probably thinking, wtf is up with the nature and EV spread but because Herracross is naturally an offensive powerhouse with low defense, giving him an attack boosting nature and investing into Def works out better than giving him a defense boosting nature and attack EVs. This is a rather unconventional set, but let me tell you his typing more than makes up for the fact he's not the bulkiest guy around and he's powerful enough that a defensively invested Hitmontop won't stay in on him after a couple of boosts. Guts is really the key to making this set work as it turns something that's normally debilitating into a bonus to rip into the enemy team]
Dantyllew - Whimsicott
Bold, Prankster, Leftovers, 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpE
Encore
Substitute
Toxic
Leech Seed
[If OH GOD NO, IT'S WHIMSICOTT is your first reaction you probably already understand why this Poke is in my team. Whimsicott is without a doubt my favourite Gen 5 Poke, it's just plain adorable and irritating and nothing is more satisfying than getting it set up on an unprepared opponent. Whimsicott requires a bit of prediction to be effective, but played correctly can single-handedly win games, block sweeps and stall out an opponent]
Wheezy - Empoleon
Calm, Torrent, Leftovers, 252 HP, 252 SpD, 4 SpA
Stealth Rocks
Scald
Ice Beam
Roar
[Empoleon is the defensive glue that holds this team together, he is the primary receiver of Blizzard/Ice-beam which is ever so common and has resistances to most forms of special attacks. He spends a lot of time fishing for burns and phasing and generally counters a lot of my weaknesses, his own weaknesses are easily covered by Herracross and Whimsicott. I admit I rely on him too much sometimes, but honestly he's part of the reason this team is so successful]
Mickey - Nidoking
Timid, Sheer Force, Choice Scarf, 252 SpA, 252 SpE, 4 Hp
Earth Power
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Fire Blast
[With awesome type coverage and quite decent damage, as well as a way to counter stall Zapdos and toxic spikes, Nidoking is a very essential part of my team. The fact he is scarfed is more for the surprise factor than anything else, he doesn't really have the speed to outspeed enemy scarfers but is deceptively fast outside of that. I've been running this set prior to it becoming the Smogon standard, so I've got a lot of shock kills from the scarf, unfortunately enemies are starting to become more wary and my team is already heavily invested in special attackers. I'm thinking of swapping him to a life orb variant with Thunder, Fire Blast, Hone Claws and Earthquake, or something similar]
Lumiere - Chandelure
Timid, Flash Fire, Air Balloon, 252 SpE, 252 SpA, 4 SpD
Fire Blast
Energy Ball
Shadow Ball
Calm Mind
[Possessing the highest special attack outside of ubers and four immunities with the balloon, Chandelure is a definite threat for my opponent. The strength of Chandelure is that it often forces switches if played correctly and can generally outspeed a lot of Pokemon that decide to come in to wall it, after a couple of boosts even Chansey won't hang around (and generally can't hit it possessing only S-Toss). Despite the fact the set possesses Calm mind, I often do not use it, it's there for if I get stalled by opponents that can't actually harm me, I used to run Pain-split but I found just damaging my opponent generally did more and Chandelure wouldn't gain much survivability out of it without a sub (which are pathetically weak) as a lot of opponents ohko it. Funnily enough the set used to run attract, if you get the name, as a bit of a joke but it was occasionally useful given all Chansey are female]
All in all this team has been highly successful already, despite the fact it is heavily invested in special attackers I have plenty of wall breakers and ways to boost/encore my opponent and break through using brute force. The pokemon on this team are highly powerful and I've won games with all of them being the last Poke in at the end.
