Defensive Pairing (OU RMT)
While in my team building and pondering thoughts, someone suggested to me the "pairing" method of team building, which emphasizes two Pokemon that perfectly complement each other. Thinking along those line, I thought it might be a good idea to start with my favorites and pick a few I can see good synergy with.
One I notice right away is Skarmory and Swampert.
They share a lot of great weakness/resistance combos. Skarm is 4x resistant to Grass, and Swampert is Immune and 4x Resistant to Electric and Grass, respectively. All that's missing from this duo is some solid Special Defense. I'd prefer to be able to go with Vaporeon, but she shares an electric weakness with Skarmory AND a Grass weakness with Swampert. Sitting next to Swampert seems to be the solution.
Tentacruel is waving frantically with all its tentacles, sporting a few nice weakness/resistance pairing with Swampert and Skarmory, such as Electric with Pert and Ground with Skarmo. I've now got the added bonus of having all 3 entry hazards and a spinner staring me straight in the face.
Now that I've got all that, I realize I've got to deal with one of the biggest threats to stall teams that exists:
That's right, Trick users. One of the biggest commonalities with these guys is being special attacking Psychic or Ghost types. The natural solution seems to be a good Pursuit Trapper.
Also tugging on Tentacruel's tentacles is Tyranitar. With an awesome Special Defense, Sand Stream, and ability to take Choice items, he's absolutely perfect for the team. With a stall-based strategy and 3/4 Pokemon immune to Sandstorm, I'm really gettin' on a roll.
Now it's time to take a quick look at a weakness/resistance breakdown.
4x ~ Fighting, Grass
2x ~ Bug, Electric(2), Fire, Grass, Ground(2), Psychic, Steel, Water
0.5x ~ Bug, Dark(2), Dragon, Fire(3). Flying(2), Ghost(2), Ice, Normal(2), Poison(3), Psychic, Rock, Steel(3), Water
0.25x ~ Bug, Grass
0x ~ Electric, Ground, Poison, Psychic
So, what it looks like we have is a bit of trouble with fighting, but that's a-okay, because I need a Spin Blocker anyway. For some reason I can't get over how much I hate Rotom appliances, and Gengar doesn't fit that well on my team, so I'll go with Dusknoir.
And finally, a Cleric or Wish Passer would be ideal to include. I'd go with Vaporeon if it wouldn't add to my Electric weakness, and Blissey if it wouldn't add to my fighting weakness. For this, I'm going to have to take a quick dip outside the Favorites list for...!
Togekiss! This one was actually a really hard choice to make, because it has the same weakness of Vaporeon by adding a third Electric weakness, but the benefits totally outweigh the problems.
After quite a bit of thought and a lot of grumbling, I've decided to switch to Rotom-H.
Rotom-H helps be deal with all the Steels that will be causing me a hell of a lot of trouble. It also helps negate my Electricity weakness.
Post Build Edits:
As Monjara pointed out, my team seriously lacked any sort of recovery. That's when I decided to swap out Swampert and Togekiss for the MUCH bulkier Vaporeon and Gliscor. I also dropped Tentacruel, because I was finding my team running much more smoothly without the need for a Spinner and Toxic Spikes. He was dropped for a Hippowdon lead. That way, I've got Sandstorm up immediately, and have a far more reliable lead compared to Skarmory.
OH MY GOD I LOVE CURSELAX. Details to follow.
I'm not getting anywhere with the team right now. I just seem to be having massive issues with everything, so it's time to do a major overhaul.
Replacing Hippo is Gliscor, who pairs much better with Vaporeon. Together, they can handle a hell of a lot the other has trouble with.
This is the one that started it all, except I'm going to be doing something with Swampert that no one sees coming. And I mean no one.
I will be the one to start the combo of...SnorTomb! Or SpiriLax! Something like that. It's actually surprising how well these two work together.
Impish - 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Leftovers
~ Stealth Rock
~ Toxic
~ Roost
~ Earthquake
This is almost precisely the same as the Hippo lead, with Roost in place of Slack Off. Against other bulky leads I start with Toxic, followed by Stealth Rock. Steels I start with SR, and then get ready to switch, because what comes in next is almost always a Special Sweeper.
Metagross - Quake does a ton of damage, and it can do virtually nothing back.
Azelf - Explosion is a bit of an annoyance, but will never OHKO. Psychic does a bit of damage too, but usually enough for me to get up Stealth Rock, and Toxic if possible.
Infernape - Not as much of an issue anymore, but still annoying with HP Ice.
Jirachi - Quake's the answer.
Aerodactyl - I can Roost almost all damage it can deal, and everything in my party is too bulky.
Swampert - Toxic. Stealth Rock. Slack Off. And my opponent is now crippled.
Bronzong - Unfortunately, I don't have much of an answer for this one, so I usually switch into Skarmory to start Spiking or Snorlax. Luckily, it has virtually nothing to use against me except Explosion.
Tyranitar - Walled easily.
Heatran - Shuca Berry anyone? Fortunately, it only works once. If the lead has a Scarf I might have an issue.
Gengar - This one can toss a lot of scary things my way, so I'm forced to retreat to Spiritomb who can OHKO with Sucker Pawnch..
Mamoswine - I can only hit it for meh damage, but it is vulnerable to toxic. Ice Shard and Blizzardo can scare me off though.
Calm - 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def
Leftovers
~ Wish
~ Protect
~ Heal Bell
~ Roar
Squee! It's my favorite Special Sponge ever! With the awesome amount of physical defensive potential on my team, I made Vapo go pure Special Defense. With this spread, Latias' +1 Max SAtk Draco Meteor is a paltry 3HKO after Stealth Rock Damage, which gives me ample time to Wish myself back up to full HP. Even Thunderbolt is a 3HKO on average.
Impish - 252 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 16 Spe
Shed Shell
~ Spikes
~ Roost
~ Whirlwind
~ Brave Bird
Pretty much the standard setup here. I come in on something that can't deal with Skarm, toss in as many Spikes as possible, and start shuffling.
Calm - 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Lum Berry
~ Mirror Coat
~ Roar
~ Rest
~ Waterfall
With one of the best defensive weakness coverage, Skarmory and Swampert really shine with this set. For one, a Specially defensive Swampert is NEVER expected, so the Special Attackers and Bulky waters like to come in hoping for a free kill. Mirror Coat is the big surprise, KOing nearly every Special Sweeper that makes the attempt.
Sassy - 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Leftovers
~ Will-O-Wisp
~ Pain Split
~ Sucker Punch
~ Shadow Ball
Tyranitar and Rotom-H have been replaced by Spiritomb, because both their jobs can be covered by a different Pokemon, who works much better on this stalling team. This set hits from both spectrums very hard, and surprises many Pokemon who think they can score an easy KO. I can take down almost anything with a well-timed Pain Split and a Sucker Punch. I didn't put anything into HP to maximize the damage done with Pain Split and gave myself enough ATK to deal a good number with Sucker Punch. I'll calculate later what the ideal Sucker Punch stat should be.
Thokk
Immunity
Careful - 168 HP / 120 Def / 220 SDef
Leftovers
~ Whirlwind
~ Body Slam
~ Fire Punch
~ Seed Bomb
What's the natural reaction when you see a Snorlax? Switch to a bulky water, toxic, and stall it out. Or switch to Scizor or Lucario and Superpower it. This build says f#$% that. Immunity and Seed Bomb absolutely destroy almost all bulky waters. Fire Punch almost OHKOs Scizor and Luca, but smashes their face with Spikes and SR up. Body Slam for a big STAB move. Curse seems a little unnecessary, but I can't see anything I need to replace for it.
Final Glance:
{
}{
}{
}
While in my team building and pondering thoughts, someone suggested to me the "pairing" method of team building, which emphasizes two Pokemon that perfectly complement each other. Thinking along those line, I thought it might be a good idea to start with my favorites and pick a few I can see good synergy with.
One I notice right away is Skarmory and Swampert.
They share a lot of great weakness/resistance combos. Skarm is 4x resistant to Grass, and Swampert is Immune and 4x Resistant to Electric and Grass, respectively. All that's missing from this duo is some solid Special Defense. I'd prefer to be able to go with Vaporeon, but she shares an electric weakness with Skarmory AND a Grass weakness with Swampert. Sitting next to Swampert seems to be the solution.
Tentacruel is waving frantically with all its tentacles, sporting a few nice weakness/resistance pairing with Swampert and Skarmory, such as Electric with Pert and Ground with Skarmo. I've now got the added bonus of having all 3 entry hazards and a spinner staring me straight in the face.
Now that I've got all that, I realize I've got to deal with one of the biggest threats to stall teams that exists:
That's right, Trick users. One of the biggest commonalities with these guys is being special attacking Psychic or Ghost types. The natural solution seems to be a good Pursuit Trapper.
Also tugging on Tentacruel's tentacles is Tyranitar. With an awesome Special Defense, Sand Stream, and ability to take Choice items, he's absolutely perfect for the team. With a stall-based strategy and 3/4 Pokemon immune to Sandstorm, I'm really gettin' on a roll.
Now it's time to take a quick look at a weakness/resistance breakdown.
4x ~ Fighting, Grass
2x ~ Bug, Electric(2), Fire, Grass, Ground(2), Psychic, Steel, Water
0.5x ~ Bug, Dark(2), Dragon, Fire(3). Flying(2), Ghost(2), Ice, Normal(2), Poison(3), Psychic, Rock, Steel(3), Water
0.25x ~ Bug, Grass
0x ~ Electric, Ground, Poison, Psychic
So, what it looks like we have is a bit of trouble with fighting, but that's a-okay, because I need a Spin Blocker anyway. For some reason I can't get over how much I hate Rotom appliances, and Gengar doesn't fit that well on my team, so I'll go with Dusknoir.
And finally, a Cleric or Wish Passer would be ideal to include. I'd go with Vaporeon if it wouldn't add to my Electric weakness, and Blissey if it wouldn't add to my fighting weakness. For this, I'm going to have to take a quick dip outside the Favorites list for...!
Togekiss! This one was actually a really hard choice to make, because it has the same weakness of Vaporeon by adding a third Electric weakness, but the benefits totally outweigh the problems.
After quite a bit of thought and a lot of grumbling, I've decided to switch to Rotom-H.
Rotom-H helps be deal with all the Steels that will be causing me a hell of a lot of trouble. It also helps negate my Electricity weakness.
Post Build Edits:
As Monjara pointed out, my team seriously lacked any sort of recovery. That's when I decided to swap out Swampert and Togekiss for the MUCH bulkier Vaporeon and Gliscor. I also dropped Tentacruel, because I was finding my team running much more smoothly without the need for a Spinner and Toxic Spikes. He was dropped for a Hippowdon lead. That way, I've got Sandstorm up immediately, and have a far more reliable lead compared to Skarmory.
OH MY GOD I LOVE CURSELAX. Details to follow.
I'm not getting anywhere with the team right now. I just seem to be having massive issues with everything, so it's time to do a major overhaul.
Replacing Hippo is Gliscor, who pairs much better with Vaporeon. Together, they can handle a hell of a lot the other has trouble with.
This is the one that started it all, except I'm going to be doing something with Swampert that no one sees coming. And I mean no one.
I will be the one to start the combo of...SnorTomb! Or SpiriLax! Something like that. It's actually surprising how well these two work together.
The Team
Impish - 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Leftovers
~ Stealth Rock
~ Toxic
~ Roost
~ Earthquake
This is almost precisely the same as the Hippo lead, with Roost in place of Slack Off. Against other bulky leads I start with Toxic, followed by Stealth Rock. Steels I start with SR, and then get ready to switch, because what comes in next is almost always a Special Sweeper.
Metagross - Quake does a ton of damage, and it can do virtually nothing back.
Azelf - Explosion is a bit of an annoyance, but will never OHKO. Psychic does a bit of damage too, but usually enough for me to get up Stealth Rock, and Toxic if possible.
Infernape - Not as much of an issue anymore, but still annoying with HP Ice.
Jirachi - Quake's the answer.
Aerodactyl - I can Roost almost all damage it can deal, and everything in my party is too bulky.
Swampert - Toxic. Stealth Rock. Slack Off. And my opponent is now crippled.
Bronzong - Unfortunately, I don't have much of an answer for this one, so I usually switch into Skarmory to start Spiking or Snorlax. Luckily, it has virtually nothing to use against me except Explosion.
Tyranitar - Walled easily.
Heatran - Shuca Berry anyone? Fortunately, it only works once. If the lead has a Scarf I might have an issue.
Gengar - This one can toss a lot of scary things my way, so I'm forced to retreat to Spiritomb who can OHKO with Sucker Pawnch..
Mamoswine - I can only hit it for meh damage, but it is vulnerable to toxic. Ice Shard and Blizzardo can scare me off though.
Calm - 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def
Leftovers
~ Wish
~ Protect
~ Heal Bell
~ Roar
Squee! It's my favorite Special Sponge ever! With the awesome amount of physical defensive potential on my team, I made Vapo go pure Special Defense. With this spread, Latias' +1 Max SAtk Draco Meteor is a paltry 3HKO after Stealth Rock Damage, which gives me ample time to Wish myself back up to full HP. Even Thunderbolt is a 3HKO on average.
Impish - 252 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 16 Spe
Shed Shell
~ Spikes
~ Roost
~ Whirlwind
~ Brave Bird
Pretty much the standard setup here. I come in on something that can't deal with Skarm, toss in as many Spikes as possible, and start shuffling.
Calm - 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Lum Berry
~ Mirror Coat
~ Roar
~ Rest
~ Waterfall
With one of the best defensive weakness coverage, Skarmory and Swampert really shine with this set. For one, a Specially defensive Swampert is NEVER expected, so the Special Attackers and Bulky waters like to come in hoping for a free kill. Mirror Coat is the big surprise, KOing nearly every Special Sweeper that makes the attempt.
Sassy - 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Leftovers
~ Will-O-Wisp
~ Pain Split
~ Sucker Punch
~ Shadow Ball
Tyranitar and Rotom-H have been replaced by Spiritomb, because both their jobs can be covered by a different Pokemon, who works much better on this stalling team. This set hits from both spectrums very hard, and surprises many Pokemon who think they can score an easy KO. I can take down almost anything with a well-timed Pain Split and a Sucker Punch. I didn't put anything into HP to maximize the damage done with Pain Split and gave myself enough ATK to deal a good number with Sucker Punch. I'll calculate later what the ideal Sucker Punch stat should be.
Thokk
Immunity
Careful - 168 HP / 120 Def / 220 SDef
Leftovers
~ Whirlwind
~ Body Slam
~ Fire Punch
~ Seed Bomb
What's the natural reaction when you see a Snorlax? Switch to a bulky water, toxic, and stall it out. Or switch to Scizor or Lucario and Superpower it. This build says f#$% that. Immunity and Seed Bomb absolutely destroy almost all bulky waters. Fire Punch almost OHKOs Scizor and Luca, but smashes their face with Spikes and SR up. Body Slam for a big STAB move. Curse seems a little unnecessary, but I can't see anything I need to replace for it.
Final Glance:
{
