Desert Storm Team V2

[TheAeroblast]

Hello Smogon!
I've posted a version of this team before, this is a new and improved version. There are some things i'm a little unsure about and I was hoping to get some input.

Swampert
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Relaxed
EV: 240 HP, 216 DEF, 52 SpD
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Ice Beam
-Protect

I hated Swampert in Generation III, it was my least favorite starter (now my least favorite is that stupid pig thing they have for Gen V, and whats up with it being yet another fire/fighting type?). Anyway, Swampert starts things off by setting up stealth rock. The given EVs make Swampert bulky enough to survive whatever other leads may throw at it, and it works as a physical wall later in the game. Ice Beam takes down Aerodactyl that use taunt and does good damage to Celebi, Dragonite, and Flygon. Earthquake hits Jirachi for supereffective damage and hits Azelf pretty hard as well. Protect scouts out movesets, buys a turn for leftovers recovery, and stops explosion.

Tyranitar
Item: Babiri Berry
Nature: Jolly
EV: 4 HP, 252 ATK, 252 SPE
-Dragon Dance
-Stone Edge
-Crunch
-Fire Punch

Tyranitar has always been a favorite of mine, and it is the main force behind this team. It brings in sandstorm and after a dragon dance is nearly unstoppable . The extra speed provided allows Tyranitar to outspeed revenge killers like Infernape and Starmie after a dragon dance. Crunch and Stone Edge are absolutely lethal, although I have to say I wish they would make a strong rock type move with 100% accuracy. It seems like stone edge misses every time I'm in a pinch. Fire Punch takes down pesky steel types like Skarmory, Forretress, Lucario, and most importantly Magnezone and Scizor. Originally I had Tyranitar holding a life orb, but I figured it was strong enough with dragon dance, and now it can survive attacks from both Scizor and Metagross and hopefully take them out with Fire Punch. Fire Punch also deals with the occasional grass types like Roserade and Breloom that are especially threatening to Swampert.

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:462Magnezone.png

Magnezone
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Naive
EV: 40 ATK, 252 SpA, 216 Spe
-Substitute
-Thunderbolt
-Flash Cannon
-Explosion

Let me first say that I would rather have HP Fire instead of Flash Cannon, but I built this team in game and getting a Magnemite with the right nature, ability, and decent IVs was hard enough without breeding for the specific IVs for HP Fire. So I figured Flash Cannon was a decent STAB attack for anything that Thunderbolt can't handle (I realize some pokemon resist both, but its the best I can do). Magnezone can still handle pesky steel types that threaten the rest of the team, Scizor in particular, and it can deal with opposing Tyranitar with Flash Cannon. The EV spread specifically gives Explosion enough power to take out Blissey, and can also deal with anything else that gives my team trouble.

Scizor
Item: Choice Band
Nature: Adamant
EV: 248 HP, 252 ATK, 8 Spe
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
-Pursuit

Scizor is an amazing revenge killer with its priority bullet punch and an amazing scout with STAB U-turn. As I said before Superpower is primarily for dealing with Blissey who can otherwise cause trouble for this team and it's the best option against opposing Scizor who threaten Tyranitar. It also deals with Magnezone and Heatran who commonly try to kill Scizor. Pursuit is for ghosts like Gengar and Rotom, Psychics like Starmie, and anything that I think is going to switch out when Scizor comes in. The ever present fire type weakness is absorbed by Starmie, Tyranitar, and Flygon, and those three can easily KO those fire types. Starmie also spins away entry hazards that can cause problems for Scizor who switches in often.

Starmie
Item: Leftovers or Lifeorb?
Nature: Timid
EV: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 SPE
-Rapid Spin or Recover?
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Hydro Pump

Originally I ran a defensive rapid spin set on Starmie, but the need for a strong special attacker made me change to this set. This is my most recent change, and the pokemon I'm most unsure about. Rapid Spin provides much needed support for pokemon like Scizor and Flygon who switch in and out often, but Recover lets Starmie last longer. I could drop Ice beam because Swampert has it, but Swampert doesn't have the power behind it that Starmie does and it leaves Starmie helpless before pokemon like Dragonite and Celebi. Lifeorb gives Starmie a great boost in power, but it will be worn down fast by recoil damage and sandstorm damage without any way to recover from it. While leftovers neutralizes sandstorm damage and helps Starmie last longer. I would really appreciate some help with this I cant decide what to do!

Flygon
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Adamant
EV: 4 HP, 252 ATK, 252 Spe
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-U-turn
-Fire Blast

Last but not least is Flygon. Flygon works well with Scizor as a revenge killer and scout. Earthquake is its primary STAB attack providing great coverage and hitting Magnezone and Heatran who threaten Scizor and Lucario. Outrage is for weakened dragons like Dragonite, and Kingdra as well as anything that Earthquake can't handle. U-turn forces switches and makes Flygon a great scout alongside Scizor. Fire Blast is first and foremost for dealing with enemy Scizor that threaten Tyranitar with bullet punch. It also hurts Skarmory and Bronzong who are immune to Earthquake, as well as other steel types and troublesome grass types.

I trust Smogon more than any other pokemon community, If anyone can help me with my Starmie issue (or any other issue) its you guys. Thanks in advance!

 

[undisputed]

Hi TheAeroblast,

Nice team you got here, it already looks pretty solid. When looking at your team, strong special attackers like Starmie and Shaymin seem to be quite troublesome for you to deal with. They 1/2 HKO everything on your team so nothing can comfortably switch in, and in Starmie's case, the best you can do is lure tbolts and switch to Flygon, but your opponent will catch on pretty quickly. Shaymin is outsped by more things, ie Starmie and Flygon, but it will have to be damaged beforehand, which I believe will require you to sacrifice something more often than not. To remedy this issue, I think you should try out Chesto Rest Kingdra in place of Tyranitar. They both function similarly, but this Kingdra is very good at setting up in the face of strong Special Attacks. In fact, Starmie struggles to 3HKO this Kingdra! Also, Kingdra's enemies (physical walls like Skarmory) are easily lured in to be beaten by Magnezone, which will make Kingdra even more potent.

Here is the Kingdra set:

Kingra @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 144 HP / 160 Atk / 40 SpD / 164 Spe
Nature: Adamant
-Waterfall
-Outrage
-Dragon Dance
-Rest

I hope you find success with that change! Good luck!

 

[Zalis]

It's pleasant to see how this team looks like mine. It follows the same synergy I use.
My team before I posted the thread looked like this:
Swampert, Scizor, Tyranitar, Kingdra, Metagross, and Togekiss
After changes it looked like this:
Gliscor, Tyranitar, Scizor, Kingdra, Starmie, and Zapdos.
Feel free looking at my team for team changes, and for rates for me to change my team:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82581

 

[TheAeroblast]

Thanks alot for the suggestions! I'm a little reluctant to give up Tyranitar, but I hadn't really noticed my weakness to special attacks thanks for pointing it out i'll give the Kingdra thing a try. I've decided to run rapid spin instead of recover on Starmie since my team focuses on offense and it really needs rapid spin support.

 

[Faladran]

So I talked to you a bit on IRC, and you mentioned that Lucario and Gyarados can be pretty big threats to this team, which I agree with. Fortunately, you won't have too make many changes to fix up your weaknesses to these two sweepers. First, definitely use Thunderpunch on Flygon. This will give you a safety precaution against DD Gyarados, ensuring that you at least won't be swept by it. Second, consider trying out a Choice Scarf Magnezone over your current set; it retains the ability to trap and eliminate Steel-types, while allowing you to check SD Lucario to some degree. The lack of HP Fire is a bit troublesome, but you can at least outspeed and deal a pretty good amount of damage to Lucario.

Good luck!