Gen 4 [DPP OU] Annoyance squared

Nayala · Monday at 11:09 AM

Annoyance squared

https://pokepast.es/e98bfc62b00316ee

This team was born when my browser cache had no DPP team saved and I wanted something to play with. I had been aggravated by Jirachi paraflinch hax when I played some DPP in recent years, and I decided to build a team around some of the most annoying pokémons in the meta: Jirachi for paraflinch, Clefable for Magic Guard Knock off, Breloom with sleep. I rounded up the team with TTar and Latias as scarfers, and Swampert to lead and set rocks.

Is this team great? Probably not. It didn't carefully take into account various threats in the meta. I switched some moves and tweaked EV spreads over the initial revision, and it performs reasonably well (1400s to 1500s in the ladder with a peak in the 1580s), but that's probably more a testament to the individual strength of the pokémons in the team than to special insight.

Nonetheless, I think it's an interesting team to use, and probably a good benchmark when teambuilding.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch

Pert is my lead. It's a glue mon that's here to patch some of the weaknesses of the rest of the team and to lay rocks if possible. It's usually ok to not be able to lay rocks if the other lead is KOed, for example Azelf lead and Aerodactyl lead are not too threatening, and pert can come back later to put rocks on.

It offers some significant defensive utility against the likes of physical Jirachi, Heatran and Metagross, and with its coverage it can hit hard a lot of key pokémons. Although it also often feels like setup bait for Loom, as throwing a Ice Punch is often a shot in the dark, and it also lets Skarmory lay spikes.

BanThisMon (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
Impish Nature
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Protect
- Wish

The nickname I gave to Jirachi gives away my feeling about it. It doesn't like being paralyzed and gets ruined by burn, but it is incredibly bulky and with wish + protect, it can last very long. Body Slam is very effective at spreading paralysis, including against annoying ground types, and as for Iron Head, the flinch potential is obscene.

Within the team, it serves as a major defensive pivot, as with its excellent typing and bulk it can take a lot of abuse, but it also acts as strange sort of sweeper that often takes out 2 or 3 mons.

There are a few pokémons that Jirachi absolutely cannot break, most notably Empoleon, and a few mons that usually have little to fear if they carry lefties. But with paraflinching, it can get very scary. Metagross and Magnezone look like counters on papers, but I've beaten plenty of them if they don't carry lefties, and I've also paraflinched to death some Hippowdon, Heatran (although already weakened), Swampert, and those are among its best counters. Rotom-appliances are quite good as they don't fear body slam, but with TTar around and Clefable also able to take them on, the team handles them fine (unless it's some kind of rare trick variant that tricks Clefable).

There are a lot of fast frail pokemons that can be very threatening to Jirachi, but if they switch in on a body slam they are likely ruined.

I often switch Jirachi in if I anticipate a boom, as it takes at most 50-60% from the most common boom pokemons (Azelf, Metagross, Heatran, and a few other steels) and more often than not will be able to heal back with wish.

Wishpassing, most often to Swampert, can also be quite useful.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 228 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave

A classic Clefable set which everyone interested in DPP knows by this point. Knock off to remove items and not be passive, healing, Seismic toss for reliable damage against most mons, TW to cripple opposing mons. Outside of my 2 scarfers, most of my team is quite slow, so para from TW is really useful.

Clefable ignoring chip damage and being able to always move under para make it very pleasant to use. It sometimes feels like setup fodder against strong physical attackers, but the way it walls most special attackers and weak physical attackers is very appreciable, and with Jirachi it forms a rather nice defensive core. Some otherwise strong pokémons like Zapdos look foolish when faced with the pink menace.

I don't really recall what the 28 speed EVs are for, but it doesn't hurt. Careful nature to maximize knock off damage. It usually doesn't make much of a difference, but I can't recall the last time being hit by confusion was a concern, while hitting Gengar and Rotom a little harder is always a small plus.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
- Stone Edge

A classic TTar scarf set, nothing special to explain when it comes to the moves. In my experience, pursuit is best used when the enemy pokemon either can't threaten much damage if it stays or if it's weakened enough to die anyways. Against the likes of near-full-health Starmie, Latias, Gengar, it is often better to go for Crunch, because the threat of Pursuit will keep them in.

For the team, it brings sand which is often appreciable to wear down enemy pokémons while 4 out of 6 pokémons within the team are immune to sand, and Breloom can still heal under sand. Its immense special bulk also allows to switch-in on some special attackers to threaten them back, but without any recovery it can rarely do it more than once or twice per game.

Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Spore
- Seed Bomb
- Superpower
- Mach Punch

Simple bulky offensive Loom. The priority from Mach Punch is very appreciable, sleep is really nasty although I don't click Spore that often, as keeping the threat available is also nice.

Latias (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
- Surf

Scarf Latias, nothing fancy. It has to be careful against being trapped by TTar, but is very good at revenge killing. Trick is there to ruin stall teams and setup sweepers. Lati often serves as my sleep fodder against loom.

The EV spread allows to hit 330 speed before scarf, clearing the 328 speed tier used by pokémons such as Scarf Flygon. With scarf it's still really fast, so I find the extra bulk a worthy trade-off.

Someone I beat on ladder suggested Specs to hit harder, but Scarf TTar is too slow to be a proper insurance against the likes of DDance Gyarados or DD Nite, so in the end I kept Scarf.

I originally ran TWave instead of Thunderbolt, but that's a pretty bad move to run on a scarfed mon, and TBolt allows to deal with Skarmory and Gyara. Surf is nice against Heatran and Hippowdon and to do more damage on an anticipated TTar switch-in, but maybe HP Fire to eliminate Scizor and Forre could be a good option.

Weaknesses

The team has some clear weaknesses which become apparent when laddering.

The first big weakness is spikes. The team has no spinner, and is not effective at preventing Skarmory and Forretress from laying their spikes. Loom can put Forre to sleep and Latias can TB Skarmory, but neither is reliable.

The second big weakness is bulky setup sweepers with priority, namely SD Scizor and SD Lucario. Loom's mach punch is still slower while TTar and Latias take huge damage. Jirachi may take a hit but can't hit back hard enough. It can often get a para in, but that's not always enough.

The team is also very weak to SubSeed Loom, which unlike most loom variants can beat Jirachi even if another pokémon has been put to sleep. It also doesn't like Infernape which easily beats the defensive core of the team. Usually, it can be worked around wearing it down with rocks, sand, LO, but the prediction game is always risky.

Overall, I'd still say the team can perform well against many styles.

Sample games

Jeong · Wednesday at 1:11 AM

Hi,
Curious team... It's like a combination of big 5 and annoying things like loom.

I'm surprised how well pert fits in here, taking advantage of Wish + BSlam support from Jirachi or Twave from Clefable.

I see you didn't do too bad on the ladder at all. It's not easy to get to +1500. Especially in low ladder, which is quite a challenge. I congratulate you.

Well, considering you're weak to things like loom itself, nape, Scizor or Lucario, plus DD Gyara or nite.... I've come up with some ideas without forcing big changes.

First, I had thought of FPunch rachi (a classic) with 80 EV'S in attack for CC Lucario. The problem is that you lose bulk, but you can still fit 3 SBall from LO Gengar without problem. And you may also lose a major support such as Wish+tect. But well, it's just an idea.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
- Fire Punch
- Protect / Wish

By the way, I don't think it's very useful those 28 in speed Clefable. If you want, you can try 32 in defense and 248 HP for SPower ttar. Apart from that you fit 3 EQ of scarf + mix LO Flygon.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 228 SpD /
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave

For common threats like DD Gyara + nite, I was thinking Magneton. I don't know if it's to your liking, but it might be a good answer. With TBolt + HP Ice, you can overpower both of them and take them out. Plus, you have the advantage that, with HP Ice you don't lose that point in speed, which can come in handy if the Gyarados is +speed.

Magneton @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive / Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice / HP Fire
- Flash Cannon
- Explosion / TWave

If you consider the Magneton option, you could try Specs Latias, since you now have a slightly faster scarf + ttar. This way you have an answer for Spore loom, which is always very annoying, and more so vs. this team. But be careful with the uses of Stalk or changes like Pursuit Scizor or ttar.

Latias @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse / Sleep Talk
- Surf
- Trick

I'm srry if I haven't been very helpful, but that would be all. I'm aware that you may cover more threats now, but that you're still weak to Infernape, for example. The problem is, if you are encouraged to try Magneton (only pokemon change) the sacrifice should be Clefable or loom.

Nayala · 2025-05-02T10:58:12-0400

Jeong said:
Hi,
Curious team... It's like a combination of big 5 and annoying things like loom.

I'm surprised how well pert fits in here, taking advantage of Wish + BSlam support from Jirachi or Twave from Clefable.

I see you didn't do too bad on the ladder at all. It's not easy to get to +1500. Especially in low ladder, which is quite a challenge. I congratulate you.

Well, considering you're weak to things like loom itself, nape, Scizor or Lucario, plus DD Gyara or nite.... I've come up with some ideas without forcing big changes.

Thank you for your comment and suggestions.

Fire Punch on Jirachi has definitely many upsides, but dropping protect makes it very different to play as a lot of attacks that could previously be outhealed become unmanageable, anything in the 25-50% damage range. It would change the role of the mon a lot.

Giving some def on Clefable to be able to withstand a TTar Superpower is probably a good idea.

I tried a game with your Magneton instead of loom and with Specs tias, but I faced a Shell Shed Skarmory + Gliscor combo... With the scarf lock, that was so disappointing.

A difficulty when making deeper adjustments to a team is that you need to relearn how to use it well. Hard to judge if issues are with the change or with not using the team right.

Gen 4 [DPP OU] Annoyance squared

Nayala

Jeong

Banned deucer.

Nayala