So, I've just decided to step into competitive Pokemon battling, and I've been liking SM RU the most so far. This is kind of a balance (and kind of leaning towards Bulky Offense, as my core consists of Snorlax, which can play aggressively if need be) team I've just made. I have only reached 1500 and although this team's been effective in most match-ups, I'm struggling to get past some bulkier builds, and of course, wallbreakers and set-up sweepers that carry Z-moves. Hope you guys could help me out here.
The Team
Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Happiness: 0
EVs: 188 HP / 128 Def / 192 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Frustration
- Rest
- Earthquake
Snorlax provides the team a very good switch-in to most special attackers like Salazzle, Venusaur (under Sun), and Zoroark. Snorlax is also my first wincon once all threats such as Heracross, Kommo-o, Doublade, or some pesky unaware mons are gone. The set is pretty standard; Earthquake is for Doublade, Rest is for recovery, frustration is the main attacking move and of course Curse. I prefer immunity over Thick Fat so i can fare better against annoying mons carrying Toxic.
Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Roost
- Defog
- Air Slash
To help against the Heracross match-up, (and for absorbing Water-type attacks), I decided to go with Mantine. Mantine provides Defog support as I will be switching more than several times throughout the match. It's also great to have some sort of Feraligatr stop. At first I ran Haze for those set-up sweepers who try to take advantage of its being passive, but I thought killing off Heracross in one shot is too important to pass up.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
Bronzong is my rocker, and weirdly enough the only one in my team that has Toxic. I THOUGHT IT WOULDN'T BE SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE UMBREON IS JUST FUCKING EVERYWHERE. Also checks fairy types like Florges and Comfey, as well as set-up sweepers like DD Flygon and CM Reuniclus. I decided to put Earthquake over Protect to surprise Salazzle. Also, I thought a specially defensive set worked better because I had CurseLax and Mantine to deal with most Physical attackers.
Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
This was originally a specially defensive Roserade, but I saw how effective and scary offensive Roserade was. It takes on both Rock- and Water- types such as Gigalith, Jellicent, and Rhyperior. I chose HP Fire over a utility move because Chesnaught walls it to hell and back. (If only it can learn Sludge Wave). I also realized how important Sleep Powder was, it can basically put some Pokemon deadweight throughout the match. Spikes was originally my go-to utility move, but I realized there are a lot of great hazard removers in the tier.
Flygon @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Iron Tail
My second win-con, Flygon helps me with more offensive teams. Dragonium Z is my item of choice because Z-Outrage is so powerful at +1. Also helps against some Electric Types such as Heliolisk which I'm kind of having trouble with.
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
And to top it all off, I added Heracross so I can clean late-game and revenge kill threats such as Scarf Gardevoir, Feraligatr at +1, and Zoroark It also helps that it has Knock Off because Eviolite mons are running rampant. The last slot was originally Pangoro, but I realized it's slow as hell and is only a liability against most fairies, so I switched to Flame Orb Guts Heracross, and when I tweaked the team up a bit I switched to Scarf Heracross.
THREATLIST:
I've had really bad math-ups with Z-move sweepers and certain wallbreakers:
Nasty Plot Salazzle can OHKO my Mantine at +2 with Acid Downpour, and can shred my team in one go if it carries HP Ice. Taunt is also pretty annoying to deal with.
Electrium Z Reuniclus is also a bit hard to handle just because Bronzong is so easy to take out. the fact that Megahorn misses most of the time also hurts.
I don't have a proper switch in to Guts Heracross if it has Stone Edge; Scarf Heracross, on the other hand, just snowballs through the team once it's weakened enough.
That's all, hope you could help me out!
The Team
Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Happiness: 0
EVs: 188 HP / 128 Def / 192 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Frustration
- Rest
- Earthquake
Snorlax provides the team a very good switch-in to most special attackers like Salazzle, Venusaur (under Sun), and Zoroark. Snorlax is also my first wincon once all threats such as Heracross, Kommo-o, Doublade, or some pesky unaware mons are gone. The set is pretty standard; Earthquake is for Doublade, Rest is for recovery, frustration is the main attacking move and of course Curse. I prefer immunity over Thick Fat so i can fare better against annoying mons carrying Toxic.
Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Roost
- Defog
- Air Slash
To help against the Heracross match-up, (and for absorbing Water-type attacks), I decided to go with Mantine. Mantine provides Defog support as I will be switching more than several times throughout the match. It's also great to have some sort of Feraligatr stop. At first I ran Haze for those set-up sweepers who try to take advantage of its being passive, but I thought killing off Heracross in one shot is too important to pass up.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
Bronzong is my rocker, and weirdly enough the only one in my team that has Toxic. I THOUGHT IT WOULDN'T BE SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE UMBREON IS JUST FUCKING EVERYWHERE. Also checks fairy types like Florges and Comfey, as well as set-up sweepers like DD Flygon and CM Reuniclus. I decided to put Earthquake over Protect to surprise Salazzle. Also, I thought a specially defensive set worked better because I had CurseLax and Mantine to deal with most Physical attackers.
Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
This was originally a specially defensive Roserade, but I saw how effective and scary offensive Roserade was. It takes on both Rock- and Water- types such as Gigalith, Jellicent, and Rhyperior. I chose HP Fire over a utility move because Chesnaught walls it to hell and back. (If only it can learn Sludge Wave). I also realized how important Sleep Powder was, it can basically put some Pokemon deadweight throughout the match. Spikes was originally my go-to utility move, but I realized there are a lot of great hazard removers in the tier.
Flygon @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Iron Tail
My second win-con, Flygon helps me with more offensive teams. Dragonium Z is my item of choice because Z-Outrage is so powerful at +1. Also helps against some Electric Types such as Heliolisk which I'm kind of having trouble with.
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
And to top it all off, I added Heracross so I can clean late-game and revenge kill threats such as Scarf Gardevoir, Feraligatr at +1, and Zoroark It also helps that it has Knock Off because Eviolite mons are running rampant. The last slot was originally Pangoro, but I realized it's slow as hell and is only a liability against most fairies, so I switched to Flame Orb Guts Heracross, and when I tweaked the team up a bit I switched to Scarf Heracross.
THREATLIST:
I've had really bad math-ups with Z-move sweepers and certain wallbreakers:
Nasty Plot Salazzle can OHKO my Mantine at +2 with Acid Downpour, and can shred my team in one go if it carries HP Ice. Taunt is also pretty annoying to deal with.
Electrium Z Reuniclus is also a bit hard to handle just because Bronzong is so easy to take out. the fact that Megahorn misses most of the time also hurts.
I don't have a proper switch in to Guts Heracross if it has Stone Edge; Scarf Heracross, on the other hand, just snowballs through the team once it's weakened enough.
That's all, hope you could help me out!
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