Its been ages since I've really been into Pokémon, but I've had a lot of spare time on my hands and its really filled the void.
I'm mostly posting this team because I've sort of hit 50/50 win loss, and I struggle to get past 1200 points on Smogon. The team is fairly good but its got some weaknesses - mostly its 3 Water weaknesses. Its no where near its best, so I'm hoping I can make it better :).
It suits my playstyle quite well - I prefer bulk to glass cannons, but the team still can hit hard. Its in a bit of a crossfire - its not the heavy offence that dominated early on but its more offensive than the stall teams which are starting to crop up. The whole team can take a hit, and look to wear down Gliscors counters while also countering Rain and Sand teams, the most common team types right now.
Thanks in advance!
Here's the team!
Infernape @ Focus Sash
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fake Out
- Stealth Rock
- Overheat
- Close Combat
So - lead. Despite team preview, I usually go to Infernape 9/10. Its a solid lead. By using a dedicated lead it means if I need to get Stealth Rock down, I can. It also allows me to scout - I can see if Politoed recovers with Leftovers, I can see if they're leading with Zoroark, I can just straight up attack - he's really useful. The amount of common leads he helps against is amazing.
Moveset is Gen 4 standard - Fake Out to scout, Stealth Rock helps wear down Flying types, Overheat is more powerful than Fire Blast and is more accuracte and Close Combat for powerful STAB. Max / Max is to tie with Virizion, Cobalion and Terrakion - they're always good to tie with, especially if the Sash is intact.
May put more EVs into Attack to get certain KOs and the rest into Special Attack - Overheat causes massive Special Attack drops so it feels wasted at some times.
--
Latios @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Roost
My replacement for Aggron and the real powerhouse of the team. His main job is lure in Steels and hammer them with strong Draco Meteors. The other moves are really to cover other Steels, mainly Heatran and Scizor / Ferrothorn.
His main job is to switch into bulky Waters and fire off a Draco Meteor - Shaymin was ok but the sheer power Latios wields is amazing. Roost, decent bulk and resists and his great Speed are why I chose him over other Dragons, as he sort of functions as a way of getting momentum back. He is completly Blissey bait though, but then Gliscor can do something to them. His other job is to get momentum back - something CB Terakion did very well, but Latios is a lot bulkier, resists Water and is immune to Spikes.
Unfortunatly, despite his suspect status, he's the weakest link of the team. Usually he gets critted or incredibly weakened and doesn't get the KOs I hope he'd get. I might try Calm Mind as I don't think Specs will help, but we'll see.
---
Scizor @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Att / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
- Superpower
I've always had a soft spot for Scizor ever since Silver, but Bullet Punch really turned him around. Scizor is currently in the team purely to revenge kill, but his bulk is sometimes useful, again to regain momentum, force a switch and deal some damage. Because of his two priority moves, he can easily check most of the metagame, most of the things Gliscor can't beat like opposing Latios, Landlos and Virizion.
I don't have Pursuit - I've never used it, and I've always preferred the extra priority to trapping things. If I predict a switch, I'd rather U-turn out and let Infernape, Latios or Deoxys-D come in to cause more problems. Otherwise he's sort of a filler really - I would use CB Lucario but Scizor has stronger priority in Bullet Punch and more bulk.
--
Metagross @ Iron Ball
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Att / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Trick
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- ThunderPunch / Ice Punch.
A somewhat strange thing, but it serves a few roles. Firstly, its a brilliant lure for Skarmory, Bronzong and Rotom-W, turning them into easy pickings for Gliscor. Secondly, if they don't have Skarmory, he can become a great counter for Tornadus, Thundurus and Gengar, all of which can't 2HKO him without a boost. Thirdly, he can lure in Infernape and Special Defensive Ninetales, take a Fire Blast and hit back with Earthquake. Always fun.
The standard set runs 252 HP / 252 Att, but I found that to only be useful in 2HKOing Skarmory, Rotom-A and Bronzong, all of which Gliscor can do. By maximising his special defensiveness he can also function as a great check to some of bigger threats of the game, and a great switch into Latios' Draco Meteors, something I've had problems with in the past.
The other moves are simple - Trick to swap items, Meteor Mash for STAB, Earthquake for Steels and Thunder Punch for Waters, or Ice Punch for Thundurus and Gliscor. I've used Choice Band with this spread for a bit to cripple other things, but the ability to remove Skarmory from the match is too hard to pass up.
---
Deoxys-D @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 124 SpD / 132 Spe
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Seismic Toss / Hidden Power [Fire]
The last team had a massive problem with Stall, and this is a sort of fix for it. A good stallbreaker should be able to last longer than stall, and be able to beat them easily.
Taunt + Toxic plus Recover is a great combo to beat almost everything not named a Steel. Gliscor can beat Steels, so thats not a problem. I've had a few games where Taunt and Toxic has torn them apart while I just Recover off the damage.
Tyranitar is somewhat a problem, but its beatable. If it switches in on Toxic, it dies. If its not Scarf, I can Recover it while it doesn't KO me with Crunch or I switch on. If it doesn't have Choice Band, then it has no hope of beating me one on one.
Seismic Toss in the last slot is for consistent damage and it means I can beat Reuniclus eventually through Taunt, Recover and Seismic Toss. HP Fire is to lure in Scizor, a big problem with the set, but I have other things to deal with it.
The EVs are to outrun Jolly Tyranitar and be sure to outrun everything around that, including many stall players like Jirachi, Celebi, Tyranitar and Breloom. Max HP and the rest in Special Defence as he can sponge a few hits Gliscor can't, especially Rain teams.
He's been doing ok - despite his MASSIVE defences he's actually quite fragile because of his lack of resistances and low HP.
---
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Att / 148 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Protect
When I was looking for a win condition, I wanted something that was immune to status, was bulky and could easily set up. Gen 5 brought a lot of Pokes that can do that, from Roobushin, Rankurusu and Shinboraa to this behemoth, Gliscor.
Gliscor fills a few roles before sweeping - he's my main Fighting resist, Dory counter, main Physical wall and status absorber (not Scalds!).
On the offensive, this thing is hard to stop once his checks are removed as he is too easy to set up. Effectively Gliscor can heal 50% of his HP over 2 turns of getting hit, like using Roost every other turn, except I'm immune to status. Plus his massive Defence, and I can easily set up Gliscor on a lot of common PKMN - Nat, Roob, Gliscor, Dory, TTar, Terakion, Blissey, Rank using Psycho Shock, Garchomp, DD Dragonite, Scizor, Ono, Landlos, Metagross, Hippowdon, Scrafty, Dusclops...
I might change the EVs a bit to give more Speed or more power - right now its set to outrun Agilty users looking to outrun Scarf Jirachi - probably not common anymore but I can outrun things which outrun Tyranitar. The rest is to bulk out his Defence - some Special Defence might not be a bad idea as this thing is now soo common people stick HP Ice on things to deal with him.
Changed EVs - the minor investment means I can 2HKO +3 120 HP Conkeldurr with +6 Earthquake.
---
- Things I can't revenge kill
Include Nasty Plot Celebi, Calm Mind Virizion, Calm Mind Rank, Chesto Rest Volcarona, CM Latios. They're all too bulky. Toxic Spikes would help wear down most of them enough for me to revenge.- Scizor helps with his strong priority
- Dragons - Latios and Sazandora
My god it hurts like hell - and its bulky enough to take a hit. If it comes in on Gliscor at least I can Protect and scout the Specs move, but otherwise I can't really do much to it. - No longer an issue with Metagross, Deoxys-D and Scizor.
Thanks GTS Plus for the Sprites!
I'm mostly posting this team because I've sort of hit 50/50 win loss, and I struggle to get past 1200 points on Smogon. The team is fairly good but its got some weaknesses - mostly its 3 Water weaknesses. Its no where near its best, so I'm hoping I can make it better :).
It suits my playstyle quite well - I prefer bulk to glass cannons, but the team still can hit hard. Its in a bit of a crossfire - its not the heavy offence that dominated early on but its more offensive than the stall teams which are starting to crop up. The whole team can take a hit, and look to wear down Gliscors counters while also countering Rain and Sand teams, the most common team types right now.
Thanks in advance!
Here's the team!
Team building
I firstly chose 3 things every team needs - Stealth Rock, Revenge Killer and a Win condition. These were easy to choose - Deoxys-S was Gen 4s best revenge killer, Infernape is a great lead, and Gliscor is an amazing sweeper. Simples.
To fill out the rest of the slots, I looked to cover bulky Waters. I needed something to switch into Water moves, and something to threaten Waters. Shaymin can easily take burns and force the opponent on with STAB Seed Flare, and Rotom-W can use its plenty of resistances to force switches, take hits and dish them out.
Last slot was mostly by chance - I wanted something which hit like a truck. Aggron just sort of fitted - it can 2HKO Skarmory, check Reuniclus thanks to its amazing power, and it looks like a truck! Massive Water weakness aside, the team has been working ok.
I then decided to change things around - Gliscor wasn't getting many opportunities to sweep if Bronzong, Skarmory or Rotom-W were around, so I employed Latios to hit things, Metagross to lure in Gliscors counters, Scizor to revenge kill and Deoxys-D to break stall. So far its ok.
After a while I realised Gliscor still had problems with Rotom-W, Skamory, Bronzong and bulky Waters. I decided to include Trick + Iron Ball Metagross to lure them in, Latios to switch into bulky Waters and change to Deoxys-D to help deal with stall. Because of species clause I added Scizor in with dual priority to help keep some of the major threats in check.
To fill out the rest of the slots, I looked to cover bulky Waters. I needed something to switch into Water moves, and something to threaten Waters. Shaymin can easily take burns and force the opponent on with STAB Seed Flare, and Rotom-W can use its plenty of resistances to force switches, take hits and dish them out.
Last slot was mostly by chance - I wanted something which hit like a truck. Aggron just sort of fitted - it can 2HKO Skarmory, check Reuniclus thanks to its amazing power, and it looks like a truck! Massive Water weakness aside, the team has been working ok.
I then decided to change things around - Gliscor wasn't getting many opportunities to sweep if Bronzong, Skarmory or Rotom-W were around, so I employed Latios to hit things, Metagross to lure in Gliscors counters, Scizor to revenge kill and Deoxys-D to break stall. So far its ok.
After a while I realised Gliscor still had problems with Rotom-W, Skamory, Bronzong and bulky Waters. I decided to include Trick + Iron Ball Metagross to lure them in, Latios to switch into bulky Waters and change to Deoxys-D to help deal with stall. Because of species clause I added Scizor in with dual priority to help keep some of the major threats in check.
Infernape @ Focus Sash
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fake Out
- Stealth Rock
- Overheat
- Close Combat
So - lead. Despite team preview, I usually go to Infernape 9/10. Its a solid lead. By using a dedicated lead it means if I need to get Stealth Rock down, I can. It also allows me to scout - I can see if Politoed recovers with Leftovers, I can see if they're leading with Zoroark, I can just straight up attack - he's really useful. The amount of common leads he helps against is amazing.
Moveset is Gen 4 standard - Fake Out to scout, Stealth Rock helps wear down Flying types, Overheat is more powerful than Fire Blast and is more accuracte and Close Combat for powerful STAB. Max / Max is to tie with Virizion, Cobalion and Terrakion - they're always good to tie with, especially if the Sash is intact.
May put more EVs into Attack to get certain KOs and the rest into Special Attack - Overheat causes massive Special Attack drops so it feels wasted at some times.
--
Latios @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Roost
My replacement for Aggron and the real powerhouse of the team. His main job is lure in Steels and hammer them with strong Draco Meteors. The other moves are really to cover other Steels, mainly Heatran and Scizor / Ferrothorn.
His main job is to switch into bulky Waters and fire off a Draco Meteor - Shaymin was ok but the sheer power Latios wields is amazing. Roost, decent bulk and resists and his great Speed are why I chose him over other Dragons, as he sort of functions as a way of getting momentum back. He is completly Blissey bait though, but then Gliscor can do something to them. His other job is to get momentum back - something CB Terakion did very well, but Latios is a lot bulkier, resists Water and is immune to Spikes.
Unfortunatly, despite his suspect status, he's the weakest link of the team. Usually he gets critted or incredibly weakened and doesn't get the KOs I hope he'd get. I might try Calm Mind as I don't think Specs will help, but we'll see.
---
Scizor @ Choice Band
Trait: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Att / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
- Superpower
I've always had a soft spot for Scizor ever since Silver, but Bullet Punch really turned him around. Scizor is currently in the team purely to revenge kill, but his bulk is sometimes useful, again to regain momentum, force a switch and deal some damage. Because of his two priority moves, he can easily check most of the metagame, most of the things Gliscor can't beat like opposing Latios, Landlos and Virizion.
I don't have Pursuit - I've never used it, and I've always preferred the extra priority to trapping things. If I predict a switch, I'd rather U-turn out and let Infernape, Latios or Deoxys-D come in to cause more problems. Otherwise he's sort of a filler really - I would use CB Lucario but Scizor has stronger priority in Bullet Punch and more bulk.
--
Metagross @ Iron Ball
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Att / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Trick
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- ThunderPunch / Ice Punch.
A somewhat strange thing, but it serves a few roles. Firstly, its a brilliant lure for Skarmory, Bronzong and Rotom-W, turning them into easy pickings for Gliscor. Secondly, if they don't have Skarmory, he can become a great counter for Tornadus, Thundurus and Gengar, all of which can't 2HKO him without a boost. Thirdly, he can lure in Infernape and Special Defensive Ninetales, take a Fire Blast and hit back with Earthquake. Always fun.
The standard set runs 252 HP / 252 Att, but I found that to only be useful in 2HKOing Skarmory, Rotom-A and Bronzong, all of which Gliscor can do. By maximising his special defensiveness he can also function as a great check to some of bigger threats of the game, and a great switch into Latios' Draco Meteors, something I've had problems with in the past.
The other moves are simple - Trick to swap items, Meteor Mash for STAB, Earthquake for Steels and Thunder Punch for Waters, or Ice Punch for Thundurus and Gliscor. I've used Choice Band with this spread for a bit to cripple other things, but the ability to remove Skarmory from the match is too hard to pass up.
---
Deoxys-D @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 124 SpD / 132 Spe
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Seismic Toss / Hidden Power [Fire]
The last team had a massive problem with Stall, and this is a sort of fix for it. A good stallbreaker should be able to last longer than stall, and be able to beat them easily.
Taunt + Toxic plus Recover is a great combo to beat almost everything not named a Steel. Gliscor can beat Steels, so thats not a problem. I've had a few games where Taunt and Toxic has torn them apart while I just Recover off the damage.
Tyranitar is somewhat a problem, but its beatable. If it switches in on Toxic, it dies. If its not Scarf, I can Recover it while it doesn't KO me with Crunch or I switch on. If it doesn't have Choice Band, then it has no hope of beating me one on one.
Seismic Toss in the last slot is for consistent damage and it means I can beat Reuniclus eventually through Taunt, Recover and Seismic Toss. HP Fire is to lure in Scizor, a big problem with the set, but I have other things to deal with it.
The EVs are to outrun Jolly Tyranitar and be sure to outrun everything around that, including many stall players like Jirachi, Celebi, Tyranitar and Breloom. Max HP and the rest in Special Defence as he can sponge a few hits Gliscor can't, especially Rain teams.
He's been doing ok - despite his MASSIVE defences he's actually quite fragile because of his lack of resistances and low HP.
---
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Att / 148 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Protect
When I was looking for a win condition, I wanted something that was immune to status, was bulky and could easily set up. Gen 5 brought a lot of Pokes that can do that, from Roobushin, Rankurusu and Shinboraa to this behemoth, Gliscor.
Gliscor fills a few roles before sweeping - he's my main Fighting resist, Dory counter, main Physical wall and status absorber (not Scalds!).
On the offensive, this thing is hard to stop once his checks are removed as he is too easy to set up. Effectively Gliscor can heal 50% of his HP over 2 turns of getting hit, like using Roost every other turn, except I'm immune to status. Plus his massive Defence, and I can easily set up Gliscor on a lot of common PKMN - Nat, Roob, Gliscor, Dory, TTar, Terakion, Blissey, Rank using Psycho Shock, Garchomp, DD Dragonite, Scizor, Ono, Landlos, Metagross, Hippowdon, Scrafty, Dusclops...
I might change the EVs a bit to give more Speed or more power - right now its set to outrun Agilty users looking to outrun Scarf Jirachi - probably not common anymore but I can outrun things which outrun Tyranitar. The rest is to bulk out his Defence - some Special Defence might not be a bad idea as this thing is now soo common people stick HP Ice on things to deal with him.
Changed EVs - the minor investment means I can 2HKO +3 120 HP Conkeldurr with +6 Earthquake.
---
Problems
- Things I can't revenge kill
Include Nasty Plot Celebi, Calm Mind Virizion, Calm Mind Rank, Chesto Rest Volcarona, CM Latios. They're all too bulky. Toxic Spikes would help wear down most of them enough for me to revenge.- Scizor helps with his strong priority
- Dragons - Latios and Sazandora
My god it hurts like hell - and its bulky enough to take a hit. If it comes in on Gliscor at least I can Protect and scout the Specs move, but otherwise I can't really do much to it. - No longer an issue with Metagross, Deoxys-D and Scizor.
Thanks GTS Plus for the Sprites!
