Hello everyone, this is my first topic on smogon so I'll start by introducing myself. I always played pokemon. My first game was pokemon blue on the gbc, then I played gold, ruby, emerald, diamond, platinum, heartgold. Heartgold was my favorite game because the physical/special split in gen 4 really made competitive that much more interesting and because gen 2 was my favorite generation. Needless to say I played a lot of competitive in gen 4. Mainly OU and Uber. I had a couple of successful teams in both gen 4 OU tier and gen 4 Uber tier. When gen 5 was announced on the DS I was super excited. Unfortunately I really didn't like pokemon white, it is still the only pokemon game I every bought that I did not beat E4 in. There wasn't much of a reason, I just didn't like the new pokemon designs. I skipped black/white 2 and x/y but when omega ruby and alpha saphire were announced I knew I had to buy a 3ds just for those games. Thus, it brings us to this competitive team that I put together for the gen 6 SINGLES OU meta.
I apologize for the long introduction.
When I first started to play gen 6, I noticed several pokemon gained new abilities which made them much more viable competitively. One of them is ditto. Not only is ditto a great pokemon with a cool concept that's been around since gen 1, ditto is also a pokemon that can be literally ANYTHING. I think that's what's cool about this new ditto. It makes every battle that much more fun when you make a comeback with ditto transformed into the opponent's OP pokemon. In conclusion, this team is based around having ditto sweep mid/late game. In order to achieve this, I thought that it would be best to bring pokemons that can U-turn/Volt switch so ditto can come in for free. However, most u-turns and volt switches were dropped for other moves later on.
So far, I have 7 wins and 2 loss on AS wifi with this team.
Code name: Tanks ice
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 hp / 252 sp. def / 4 sp. atk
Calm nature
-Lava plume
-will-o-wisp
-stealth rock
-roar
This is the standard specially defensive heatran set without toxic because I will be setting toxic spikes. I decided to go for heatran because I needed to have someone who can set up stealth rocks and also take ice beams for the team because after switching lanturn for thundurus I will have two weaknesses to ice. Lava pulme is heatran's stab of choice while will-o-wisp is to burn physical attackers so heatran can tank some physical hits. Roar is to counter people who abuse heatran's slow speed to set up. My main goal for this guy is to set up rocks, tank ice hits and sneak in lava plumes here and there.
Problems with heatran:
The problem with heatran is that it makes both my tanks (pokemons who need to take hits for the team) weak to one type of attack, ground in this case.
A possible solution would be to use empoleon who is also 4x resist to ice attacks and can use stealth rocks. However, that would make both my tanks weak to grass.
Code name: Suicide lead
Azelf @ Focus sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 atk / 252 sp. atk / 252 spe
Timid nature
- Flamethrower
-Grass Knot
-U-turn
-Stealth rock
This is the lead of my team. Azelf is one of the few pokemons that have decent speed who learn both stealth rock and u-turn. On top of that, my team lacks a reliable special attacker who can take out enemies that wall my scizor and talonflame easily. Azelf has access to a decent move pool, so he is the answer. Flamethrower for the likes of ferrothorn or any other steel pokemons that resists bullet punch and Grass Knot is for water pokemons sucn as swampert and rotom wash. Originally I used life orb but I would get insta KOed by sweepers so Focus sash is my answer. Note that levitate is a great free switch in when the enemy is spaming earthquake on scizor. However, it is not the original intent because I don't expect azelf to live very long. It is simply a nice bonus.
Possible improvements:
Other SR leads (Im thinking going full offensive on scizor and switch out azelf for gliscor who also is immune to earthquake and electric type attacks, but gliscor gets pooped on by *UBER*rotom-w*UBER*), other special attackers with good coverage and leviate (latios/latias), explosion.
Code name: Tanky hard hitter
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 hp / 252 def / 4 atk
Impish nature
- Bullet Punch
- Knock off
- Swords dance
- Roost
I think Scizor makes a pretty obvious appearance on this team. When one thinks about u-turn, one obviously thinks about scizor. Furthermore, with scizor's new mega form and the access to roost, I couldn't help but to tell my self "that sht OP". Scizorite, Technician and Bullet Punch are pretty standard stuff. I decided to go with Impish nature to further accentuate mega scizor's physical bulk. With Roost as a reliable recovery move, Scizor can easily set up a swords dance VS a physical damage dealer and proceed to spam bullet punches. After all, the goal of this team is to make the enemies low enough for talonflame and ditto to sweep. Knock off used to be u-turn, but after running into a couple of ferrothorns and rotom-w (seriously hate this little bastard, why is he not UBER?), I have no choice but to switch it up as knock off can cripple walls.
Code name: Plz 1 SD
Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gales Wings
EVs: 252 atk / 252 speed / 4 hp
Adamant nature
- Brave bird
- Flare blitz
-u-turn (I switched out flare blitz because it works well with thundurus' volt switch and I now have heatran for fire coverage)
- Swords dance
- Roost
Before I talk about talonflame, I would like to talk about weavile. Weavile is my absolute favourite pokemon because it is a ninja cat pokemon that is PINK (when shiny). Weavile's great speed and attack, with the access of STAB pursuit makes it a great and consistent revenge killer. That is why I loved to run weavile on my gen 4 teams.
That being said, talonflame is basically weavile 2.0. He has access to much better STAB attacks (way more base power) and, most importantly, a reliable priority recovery skill. In my opinion, gales Wings single-handedly turns talonflame from a "meh" pokemon with average base stats into a "HOLY WTF OP" revenge killer/sweeper.
I needed a much more reliable revenge killer/sweeper who cleans up before that perfect moment when I can bring ditto out is available. Talon flame is the answer. The original setup was sitrus berry with Acrobatics and u-turn instead of brave bird and flare blitz because I did not enjoy the recoils. I also used jolly nature to guarantee some free u turns. The original idea was: If talonflame can survive a hit, swords dance and let sitrus berry activate. Then proceed to spam acrobatics until the whole enemy team is low enough for ditto to come in or until it can get off a free roost. If it can't survive a hit, it will u-turn out and switch into a pokemon that can set up, stall or force a switch. As much as that strategy sounds flawless on paper, in battles I often find myself in situations when I need that extra raw power of bravebird because I don't have the chance to set up. Thus, I switched to adamant nature with brave bird and flare blitz instead of acrobatics and u-turn. Now onto the question about sharp beak vs choice band. I've considered the option of choice band over sharp beak, but swords dance and roost are just too good in my opinion to pass up for that extra 10%. It can also be noted that Talonflame has the ability for a free switch in after scizor for it is immune to earthquake. It is simply a bonus and is not the original intent because most pokemons who run EQ have a high chance of also running stone edge.
Possible improvements:
Flying gem+acrobatics, but so far I can't use flying gems in AS wifi.
Code name: The D
Ditto @ Choice scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 hp / 252 def / 4 spe (not that they matter)
Relaxed nature (not that it matters, it just happens to be the nature of the only imposter ditto I could get)
- Transform
So the idea here is to come in, transform into the enemy pokemon but with more speed. The catch is that it will be locked into one move and will only have 5 pp. It is nice for late game sweep when the whole enemy team is low and you transform into their strongest sweeper. It is even better if they have stat boosts (swords dance/dragon dance), because then you can 1 shot everything. Ditto can also be used to scout enemy movesets. Overall, it is just a standard imposter ditto. Note that with ditto on the team it basically makes the game a 5 vs 6 early on and you essentially run with 3 less moves. I think this is one of the reasons why I find it so hard to fit in status moves into the team. Also note that imposter will not work on a substitute so sometimes I need to sacrifice a pokemon or even two pokemons to break their sub. This can be a problem but I just can't find a way to fit taunt into the team.
Code name: Tentacles U
Tentacruel @ Black sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 hp / 252 def. / 4 sp. def
Bold nature
-Scald
-Acid spray
-Rapid spin
-Toxic spikes
Thanks to one hitta quitta for the suggestion. I originally did not consider tentacruel because it adds a major ground weakness which my scizor and lanturn did not enjoy. But after switching out lanturn for thundurus-therian, I figured that the toxic spikes are a nice addition to the team. EVs and bold nature to ensure that tentacruel is bulky on both sides so he can tank fire hits and stay in to lay toxic spikes/rapid spin. Scald is its stab move of choice and acid spray is to cover tentacruel's weak sp. attack stat.
Code name: What fire?
Blastoise @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 hp / 252 sp. def / 4 def
Calm nature
-Scald
-Ice beam
-Rapid spin
-Rain Dance
Of course, who would use talonflame without a rapid spinner like a nub? And, who would use scizor without someone to tank fire hits like a nub? Blastoise is the answer. I invested all into special defense to be the most specially bulky possible to compliment mega scizor's physical bulk. Blastoise lacks a reliable recovery skill so leftovers, rain dish and rain dance are the only solution. On top of that, scizor enjoys weakened fire attacks and blastoise can fire off rain boosted scald to kind of make up for his low special attack. However, this also means that thunder will be 100% accurate which is a huge problem for both my blastoise and my talonflame. This is why I bring out the following pokemon. Scald is used so blastoise can hope for a burn to make up for his weak physical defense. Ice beam is used for coverage to hit dragon types and grass types who seem to resist water. Rapid spin is self explanatory. I'd like to point out that I switched out toxic in favor of rain dance because it just adds that much more for my team. However, without toxic, it becomes very hard to break through strong physical walls or special walls that resist steel. For example, mega slowbro, melotic.
Possible improvements:
Damp rock instead of leftovers
Code name: Volt absorb sp. sweep
Thundurus-T @ Choice scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 spe / 252 sp. atk / 4 hp
Timid nature
-Thunderbolt
-Volt switch
-Focus blast
-Hidden power (ice)
This is the newly addition to my team. The reason I chose thundurus-t is because it covers the electric and water weaknesses from talonflame and tentacruel, it also covers the ground weaknesses from tentacruel and heatran. With thundurus on the team, I can actually switch out azelf for a more bulky Stealth rock user who will not be 1HKOed easily.
I've tested many sets with thundurus-t, namely nasty plot/timid and agility/modest. However, they aren't as reliable as choice scarf because I already have talonflame and scizor who need to set up before doing any massive damage. Thus choice scarf is the obvious choice here for that quick hit and run tactic.
Stab thunderbolt and hidden power ice are here for that "bolt-beam" coverage and ground types who tend to switch into thundurus. Focus blast for coverage of steel types who tend to resist scizor's bullet punches and volt switch to complete the volt-turn "hit-n-run" core with talonflame.
Problems with thundurus:
Although thundurus enjoys the luxury of ground immunity and pairs very well with heatran, thundurus also is 4x weak to stealth rocks. With this, I have two pokemons in the team who need stealth rocks gone to be effective. Thus the problem is, with heatran on the field, if the opponent is obviously going to use earthquake, I can't switch to thundurus without switching to tentacruel first (who also is weak to ground). This can cause problems if the enemy lead is, for example, a garchomp who outspeeds heatran and uses stealth rocks and then earthquake on the second turn.
One possible solution to this problem is to not lead with heatran. But then I would have to find an opportunity to bring heatran in later in the game and set up rocks.
Another possible solution would be using empoleon as 4x resist to ice and SR user. However, the same problem exists as empoleon and tentacruel are both weak to grass.
Code name: What thunder?
Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 hp / 252 def / 252 sp. def
Calm nature
-Charge beam
-Ice beam
-Stockpile
-Soak
The newly addition to my team after getting 3-0ed by a rotom-w (seriously, UBERS PLS). Ironically, the original member was a rotom-w. Their typing and access to volt switch is what made me choose them. Water-electric resists water and can tank electric hits which my talonflame enjoys immensely. Rotom-w has that levitate which is a free switch in if the enemy is spamming earthquake on scizor. It also has access to will-o-wisp and can spam 100% thunder or boosted hydro pump with the help of blastoise's rain. In my opinion, rotom is just a much more superior asset to a team. BUT, since rotom-w also walls three of my pokemons I have no choice but to give it up for laturn.
Laturn has volt absorb which is basically a huge F U to anyone who wants to nuke my blastoise or talon flame with an electric type move. However, lanturn doesn't have access to a reliable recovery move (aqua-ring is not reliable enough for me). Leftovers is a must for that small recovery every turn. Stockpile is also a must in my opinion so lanturn can tank hits. It also compliments lanturn's huge base HP very well. Charge beam and ice beam are used for that "bolt-beam" coverage. I chose charge beam over thunderbolt or discharge because I need another reliable special attacker if ever azelf dies early. Lanturn spaming charge beam is the solution I can think of. Soak is used so lanturn can continuously spam chargebeam and actually be a threat.
The core philosophy behind this set is to switch in and absorb an electric type attack, hope that the enemy switches out while giving you a free turn to stockpile or hope they can't status you or 2hko you. Then you can soak and hope they switch out again while you sneak in another stockpile for free (requires MASSIVE prediction). And then you just proceed to spam soak/charge beam and the occasional icebeam when predicting a ground type switch in.
Cons for this set are:
-Lack of burn, so it cant tank physical hits as much.
-Very slow, so it takes a lot of hits before stacking up stockpile and charge beam boosts.
-Vulnerable to status (burn/toxic stall). Honestly most pokemons are vulnerable to status but rest/talk/chesto berry is an available combo. I just think an offensive set with soak and chargebeam is better suited as my team lacks a "reliable" special attacker once azelf is out.
-Depending on the rules, item clause could be an issue. I think leftovers are important on both blastoise and lanturn so it is very hard to decide.
-weak to eq
Possible improvements:
Rest/talk/chesto
volt switch, thunder instead of charge beam, hydropump instead of ice beam, raw power to make up for bad sp. attack stats.
whirlpool trap+soak+charge beam spam. However this set trades in stockpile, which made laturn tanky to begin with, or ice beam, which makes your set very predictable and lose that surprise factor to 1hko ground types who switch in.
Possible replacement pokemons and reasons why they are/aren't considered:
Latios/Latios/gengar replacing azelf
They are much more reliable and they also have levitate.
Rotom-m replacing lanturn
Rotom-m is an interesting choice as it can tank water and electric hits while also countering rotom-w with leaf storm. He can also spam 100% thunders in the rain. However he would add another fire weakness to the team which blastoise can help out with rain dance. Rotom-m can also spread burn with will-o-wisp and use pain split as a recovery move. However, the main problem is the newly added ice type weakness which talon flame doesn't appreciate and which scizor can't tank.
Gliscor with stealth rock replacing lanturn
Gliscor here is a good choice as it also spots immunity to electric attacks and ground attacks while being able to set up stealth rocks so I can opt out azelf for another sweeper. But gliscor can't handle Rotom-w's hydro pump spam and also adds an ice weakness.
Tentacruel replacing blastoise
Tentacruel brings reliable recovery in the form of black sludge, while also packing toxic spikes and rapid spin. It is an alternative to blastoise, however it also accentuate a ground weakness paired with lanturn. So I have considered the following two pokemons.
Zapdos replacing lanturn
Zapdos has that nature bulk while being immune to ground attacks and can tank electric attacks. It also have access to heatwave so it can take out steel types so my scizor can sweep easier. However, this is walled extremely hard by the likes of swampert/gliscor and there isn't much I can do to answer to rotom-w.
Thundurus-Therian replacing lanturn
Thundurus-T fills a sweeper roll compared to zapdos. So I can have the liberty to use another stealth rock user. It is completely immune to both electric type and ground type attacks. But it is on the frail side so it risks being 2hkoed by rotom-w.
At the moment I am highly considering switching blastoise for tentacruel, lanturn for thundurus-therian, and azelf with a stealth rock user who can tank ice hits (empoleon comes to mind).
With that concludes my team debriefing. I apologize for the mega long post but I needed to get my thought process out there. Hopefully some people can follow my thoughts and help me improve my team. I also have 3 more teams ready to be rated.
-One is based around mega tyranitar (trying to provide opportunities for mega ttar to set up DDs).
-One is based around breloom, who is another one of my favorite pokemons (based around sticky web, infestation toxic muk, leechseed bind mega venasaur, will o wisp fire spin moltres, so breloom with toxic orb can come in and set up SDs and subs, latios is here just to revenge kill or make sure to outspeed and KO flying types who are not affected by sticky web).
-And one is my gen 4 OU explosion team but with a RETALIATE twist thrown in (based around tanky metagross with explosion, azelf with explosion, gengar with destiny bond and focus sash, fortress just for hazards/spin and explosion, slaking and mega loppuny with retaliate). Unfortunately I can't post more than one RMT so I will have to save it for another time in the future. Thank you for reading and thank you for taking your time to help me improve my teams.
I apologize for the long introduction.
When I first started to play gen 6, I noticed several pokemon gained new abilities which made them much more viable competitively. One of them is ditto. Not only is ditto a great pokemon with a cool concept that's been around since gen 1, ditto is also a pokemon that can be literally ANYTHING. I think that's what's cool about this new ditto. It makes every battle that much more fun when you make a comeback with ditto transformed into the opponent's OP pokemon. In conclusion, this team is based around having ditto sweep mid/late game. In order to achieve this, I thought that it would be best to bring pokemons that can U-turn/Volt switch so ditto can come in for free. However, most u-turns and volt switches were dropped for other moves later on.
So far, I have 7 wins and 2 loss on AS wifi with this team.
Code name: Tanks ice
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 hp / 252 sp. def / 4 sp. atk
Calm nature
-Lava plume
-will-o-wisp
-stealth rock
-roar
This is the standard specially defensive heatran set without toxic because I will be setting toxic spikes. I decided to go for heatran because I needed to have someone who can set up stealth rocks and also take ice beams for the team because after switching lanturn for thundurus I will have two weaknesses to ice. Lava pulme is heatran's stab of choice while will-o-wisp is to burn physical attackers so heatran can tank some physical hits. Roar is to counter people who abuse heatran's slow speed to set up. My main goal for this guy is to set up rocks, tank ice hits and sneak in lava plumes here and there.
Problems with heatran:
The problem with heatran is that it makes both my tanks (pokemons who need to take hits for the team) weak to one type of attack, ground in this case.
A possible solution would be to use empoleon who is also 4x resist to ice attacks and can use stealth rocks. However, that would make both my tanks weak to grass.
Code name: Suicide lead
Azelf @ Focus sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 atk / 252 sp. atk / 252 spe
Timid nature
- Flamethrower
-Grass Knot
-U-turn
-Stealth rock
This is the lead of my team. Azelf is one of the few pokemons that have decent speed who learn both stealth rock and u-turn. On top of that, my team lacks a reliable special attacker who can take out enemies that wall my scizor and talonflame easily. Azelf has access to a decent move pool, so he is the answer. Flamethrower for the likes of ferrothorn or any other steel pokemons that resists bullet punch and Grass Knot is for water pokemons sucn as swampert and rotom wash. Originally I used life orb but I would get insta KOed by sweepers so Focus sash is my answer. Note that levitate is a great free switch in when the enemy is spaming earthquake on scizor. However, it is not the original intent because I don't expect azelf to live very long. It is simply a nice bonus.
Possible improvements:
Other SR leads (Im thinking going full offensive on scizor and switch out azelf for gliscor who also is immune to earthquake and electric type attacks, but gliscor gets pooped on by *UBER*rotom-w*UBER*), other special attackers with good coverage and leviate (latios/latias), explosion.
Code name: Tanky hard hitter
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 hp / 252 def / 4 atk
Impish nature
- Bullet Punch
- Knock off
- Swords dance
- Roost
I think Scizor makes a pretty obvious appearance on this team. When one thinks about u-turn, one obviously thinks about scizor. Furthermore, with scizor's new mega form and the access to roost, I couldn't help but to tell my self "that sht OP". Scizorite, Technician and Bullet Punch are pretty standard stuff. I decided to go with Impish nature to further accentuate mega scizor's physical bulk. With Roost as a reliable recovery move, Scizor can easily set up a swords dance VS a physical damage dealer and proceed to spam bullet punches. After all, the goal of this team is to make the enemies low enough for talonflame and ditto to sweep. Knock off used to be u-turn, but after running into a couple of ferrothorns and rotom-w (seriously hate this little bastard, why is he not UBER?), I have no choice but to switch it up as knock off can cripple walls.
Code name: Plz 1 SD
Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gales Wings
EVs: 252 atk / 252 speed / 4 hp
Adamant nature
- Brave bird
-u-turn (I switched out flare blitz because it works well with thundurus' volt switch and I now have heatran for fire coverage)
- Swords dance
- Roost
Before I talk about talonflame, I would like to talk about weavile. Weavile is my absolute favourite pokemon because it is a ninja cat pokemon that is PINK (when shiny). Weavile's great speed and attack, with the access of STAB pursuit makes it a great and consistent revenge killer. That is why I loved to run weavile on my gen 4 teams.
That being said, talonflame is basically weavile 2.0. He has access to much better STAB attacks (way more base power) and, most importantly, a reliable priority recovery skill. In my opinion, gales Wings single-handedly turns talonflame from a "meh" pokemon with average base stats into a "HOLY WTF OP" revenge killer/sweeper.
I needed a much more reliable revenge killer/sweeper who cleans up before that perfect moment when I can bring ditto out is available. Talon flame is the answer. The original setup was sitrus berry with Acrobatics and u-turn instead of brave bird and flare blitz because I did not enjoy the recoils. I also used jolly nature to guarantee some free u turns. The original idea was: If talonflame can survive a hit, swords dance and let sitrus berry activate. Then proceed to spam acrobatics until the whole enemy team is low enough for ditto to come in or until it can get off a free roost. If it can't survive a hit, it will u-turn out and switch into a pokemon that can set up, stall or force a switch. As much as that strategy sounds flawless on paper, in battles I often find myself in situations when I need that extra raw power of bravebird because I don't have the chance to set up. Thus, I switched to adamant nature with brave bird and flare blitz instead of acrobatics and u-turn. Now onto the question about sharp beak vs choice band. I've considered the option of choice band over sharp beak, but swords dance and roost are just too good in my opinion to pass up for that extra 10%. It can also be noted that Talonflame has the ability for a free switch in after scizor for it is immune to earthquake. It is simply a bonus and is not the original intent because most pokemons who run EQ have a high chance of also running stone edge.
Possible improvements:
Flying gem+acrobatics, but so far I can't use flying gems in AS wifi.
Code name: The D
Ditto @ Choice scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 hp / 252 def / 4 spe (not that they matter)
Relaxed nature (not that it matters, it just happens to be the nature of the only imposter ditto I could get)
- Transform
So the idea here is to come in, transform into the enemy pokemon but with more speed. The catch is that it will be locked into one move and will only have 5 pp. It is nice for late game sweep when the whole enemy team is low and you transform into their strongest sweeper. It is even better if they have stat boosts (swords dance/dragon dance), because then you can 1 shot everything. Ditto can also be used to scout enemy movesets. Overall, it is just a standard imposter ditto. Note that with ditto on the team it basically makes the game a 5 vs 6 early on and you essentially run with 3 less moves. I think this is one of the reasons why I find it so hard to fit in status moves into the team. Also note that imposter will not work on a substitute so sometimes I need to sacrifice a pokemon or even two pokemons to break their sub. This can be a problem but I just can't find a way to fit taunt into the team.
Code name: Tentacles U
Tentacruel @ Black sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 hp / 252 def. / 4 sp. def
Bold nature
-Scald
-Acid spray
-Rapid spin
-Toxic spikes
Thanks to one hitta quitta for the suggestion. I originally did not consider tentacruel because it adds a major ground weakness which my scizor and lanturn did not enjoy. But after switching out lanturn for thundurus-therian, I figured that the toxic spikes are a nice addition to the team. EVs and bold nature to ensure that tentacruel is bulky on both sides so he can tank fire hits and stay in to lay toxic spikes/rapid spin. Scald is its stab move of choice and acid spray is to cover tentacruel's weak sp. attack stat.
Code name: What fire?
Blastoise @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 hp / 252 sp. def / 4 def
Calm nature
-Scald
-Ice beam
-Rapid spin
-Rain Dance
Of course, who would use talonflame without a rapid spinner like a nub? And, who would use scizor without someone to tank fire hits like a nub? Blastoise is the answer. I invested all into special defense to be the most specially bulky possible to compliment mega scizor's physical bulk. Blastoise lacks a reliable recovery skill so leftovers, rain dish and rain dance are the only solution. On top of that, scizor enjoys weakened fire attacks and blastoise can fire off rain boosted scald to kind of make up for his low special attack. However, this also means that thunder will be 100% accurate which is a huge problem for both my blastoise and my talonflame. This is why I bring out the following pokemon. Scald is used so blastoise can hope for a burn to make up for his weak physical defense. Ice beam is used for coverage to hit dragon types and grass types who seem to resist water. Rapid spin is self explanatory. I'd like to point out that I switched out toxic in favor of rain dance because it just adds that much more for my team. However, without toxic, it becomes very hard to break through strong physical walls or special walls that resist steel. For example, mega slowbro, melotic.
Possible improvements:
Damp rock instead of leftovers
Code name: Volt absorb sp. sweep
Thundurus-T @ Choice scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 spe / 252 sp. atk / 4 hp
Timid nature
-Thunderbolt
-Volt switch
-Focus blast
-Hidden power (ice)
This is the newly addition to my team. The reason I chose thundurus-t is because it covers the electric and water weaknesses from talonflame and tentacruel, it also covers the ground weaknesses from tentacruel and heatran. With thundurus on the team, I can actually switch out azelf for a more bulky Stealth rock user who will not be 1HKOed easily.
I've tested many sets with thundurus-t, namely nasty plot/timid and agility/modest. However, they aren't as reliable as choice scarf because I already have talonflame and scizor who need to set up before doing any massive damage. Thus choice scarf is the obvious choice here for that quick hit and run tactic.
Stab thunderbolt and hidden power ice are here for that "bolt-beam" coverage and ground types who tend to switch into thundurus. Focus blast for coverage of steel types who tend to resist scizor's bullet punches and volt switch to complete the volt-turn "hit-n-run" core with talonflame.
Problems with thundurus:
Although thundurus enjoys the luxury of ground immunity and pairs very well with heatran, thundurus also is 4x weak to stealth rocks. With this, I have two pokemons in the team who need stealth rocks gone to be effective. Thus the problem is, with heatran on the field, if the opponent is obviously going to use earthquake, I can't switch to thundurus without switching to tentacruel first (who also is weak to ground). This can cause problems if the enemy lead is, for example, a garchomp who outspeeds heatran and uses stealth rocks and then earthquake on the second turn.
One possible solution to this problem is to not lead with heatran. But then I would have to find an opportunity to bring heatran in later in the game and set up rocks.
Another possible solution would be using empoleon as 4x resist to ice and SR user. However, the same problem exists as empoleon and tentacruel are both weak to grass.
Code name: What thunder?
Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 hp / 252 def / 252 sp. def
Calm nature
-Charge beam
-Ice beam
-Stockpile
-Soak
The newly addition to my team after getting 3-0ed by a rotom-w (seriously, UBERS PLS). Ironically, the original member was a rotom-w. Their typing and access to volt switch is what made me choose them. Water-electric resists water and can tank electric hits which my talonflame enjoys immensely. Rotom-w has that levitate which is a free switch in if the enemy is spamming earthquake on scizor. It also has access to will-o-wisp and can spam 100% thunder or boosted hydro pump with the help of blastoise's rain. In my opinion, rotom is just a much more superior asset to a team. BUT, since rotom-w also walls three of my pokemons I have no choice but to give it up for laturn.
Laturn has volt absorb which is basically a huge F U to anyone who wants to nuke my blastoise or talon flame with an electric type move. However, lanturn doesn't have access to a reliable recovery move (aqua-ring is not reliable enough for me). Leftovers is a must for that small recovery every turn. Stockpile is also a must in my opinion so lanturn can tank hits. It also compliments lanturn's huge base HP very well. Charge beam and ice beam are used for that "bolt-beam" coverage. I chose charge beam over thunderbolt or discharge because I need another reliable special attacker if ever azelf dies early. Lanturn spaming charge beam is the solution I can think of. Soak is used so lanturn can continuously spam chargebeam and actually be a threat.
The core philosophy behind this set is to switch in and absorb an electric type attack, hope that the enemy switches out while giving you a free turn to stockpile or hope they can't status you or 2hko you. Then you can soak and hope they switch out again while you sneak in another stockpile for free (requires MASSIVE prediction). And then you just proceed to spam soak/charge beam and the occasional icebeam when predicting a ground type switch in.
Cons for this set are:
-Lack of burn, so it cant tank physical hits as much.
-Very slow, so it takes a lot of hits before stacking up stockpile and charge beam boosts.
-Vulnerable to status (burn/toxic stall). Honestly most pokemons are vulnerable to status but rest/talk/chesto berry is an available combo. I just think an offensive set with soak and chargebeam is better suited as my team lacks a "reliable" special attacker once azelf is out.
-Depending on the rules, item clause could be an issue. I think leftovers are important on both blastoise and lanturn so it is very hard to decide.
-weak to eq
Possible improvements:
Rest/talk/chesto
volt switch, thunder instead of charge beam, hydropump instead of ice beam, raw power to make up for bad sp. attack stats.
whirlpool trap+soak+charge beam spam. However this set trades in stockpile, which made laturn tanky to begin with, or ice beam, which makes your set very predictable and lose that surprise factor to 1hko ground types who switch in.
Possible replacement pokemons and reasons why they are/aren't considered:
Latios/Latios/gengar replacing azelf
They are much more reliable and they also have levitate.
Rotom-m replacing lanturn
Rotom-m is an interesting choice as it can tank water and electric hits while also countering rotom-w with leaf storm. He can also spam 100% thunders in the rain. However he would add another fire weakness to the team which blastoise can help out with rain dance. Rotom-m can also spread burn with will-o-wisp and use pain split as a recovery move. However, the main problem is the newly added ice type weakness which talon flame doesn't appreciate and which scizor can't tank.
Gliscor with stealth rock replacing lanturn
Gliscor here is a good choice as it also spots immunity to electric attacks and ground attacks while being able to set up stealth rocks so I can opt out azelf for another sweeper. But gliscor can't handle Rotom-w's hydro pump spam and also adds an ice weakness.
Tentacruel replacing blastoise
Tentacruel brings reliable recovery in the form of black sludge, while also packing toxic spikes and rapid spin. It is an alternative to blastoise, however it also accentuate a ground weakness paired with lanturn. So I have considered the following two pokemons.
Zapdos replacing lanturn
Zapdos has that nature bulk while being immune to ground attacks and can tank electric attacks. It also have access to heatwave so it can take out steel types so my scizor can sweep easier. However, this is walled extremely hard by the likes of swampert/gliscor and there isn't much I can do to answer to rotom-w.
Thundurus-Therian replacing lanturn
Thundurus-T fills a sweeper roll compared to zapdos. So I can have the liberty to use another stealth rock user. It is completely immune to both electric type and ground type attacks. But it is on the frail side so it risks being 2hkoed by rotom-w.
At the moment I am highly considering switching blastoise for tentacruel, lanturn for thundurus-therian, and azelf with a stealth rock user who can tank ice hits (empoleon comes to mind).
With that concludes my team debriefing. I apologize for the mega long post but I needed to get my thought process out there. Hopefully some people can follow my thoughts and help me improve my team. I also have 3 more teams ready to be rated.
-One is based around mega tyranitar (trying to provide opportunities for mega ttar to set up DDs).
-One is based around breloom, who is another one of my favorite pokemons (based around sticky web, infestation toxic muk, leechseed bind mega venasaur, will o wisp fire spin moltres, so breloom with toxic orb can come in and set up SDs and subs, latios is here just to revenge kill or make sure to outspeed and KO flying types who are not affected by sticky web).
-And one is my gen 4 OU explosion team but with a RETALIATE twist thrown in (based around tanky metagross with explosion, azelf with explosion, gengar with destiny bond and focus sash, fortress just for hazards/spin and explosion, slaking and mega loppuny with retaliate). Unfortunately I can't post more than one RMT so I will have to save it for another time in the future. Thank you for reading and thank you for taking your time to help me improve my teams.
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