Draconian Destruction

[VentusVictory]

I made this team off of a whim, and it’s been my most successful one so far. The theory behind it was that I wanted to utilize Haxorus’ amazing Attack stat with as much support as possible. From there, the team branched out. Here’s my thought process…

Haxorus (Strength)
Magnezone (Traps Steels)
Gyrados (Good Synergy with Magnezone)
Salamence (I read something about a team of dragons and figured to try him out)
Blissey (I need some sort of defense on this team...)
Metagross (I need Stealth Rocks and a lead)

Those were my initial thoughts, and some careful tweaking created the following team. My goal of the team is to use my three “dragons” to sweep once they have gained enough support.

THE LEAD

Metagross @ Air Balloon
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Hammer Arm
- Bullet Punch

Metagross’ main goal is to set up Stealth Rock, which he does quite well. His bulk almost always ensures that SR lands. If he has HP to spare, his Meteor Mash hits hard and is decently reliable. Bullet Punch is also an option for late game revenge killing, while Hammer Arm is for Tyranitar and Ferrothorn.

THE DRAGONS

Haxorus (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
- Dual Chop

Beast. Pure power. Haxorus uses his massive attacks to decimate teams. His typical KO rate is about three Pokemon a match. Three- the number of turns Outrage usually lasts. Haxorus’ job is to come in on already weakened teams and basically crush them with Outrage. Choice Scarf allows him to strike first against swift opponents, and his natural strength coupled with this increased speed often nets him the win. He performs less with certain roadblocks, but I’ll explain solutions later.

Salamence (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 64 Atk / 192 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

Haxorus’ best friend/partner. He’s a special attacker because I noticed that my team is heavy on the physical side. His special attacks are ideal. Fire Blast for Ferrothorn and Scizor who expect physical variants, while Draco Meteor decimates everything in between. Once they are weakened, I fall back on Outrage for a quick burst and hope that it KO’s them. It’s usually a trend when I use Salamence, Fire Blast->Draco Meteor->Outrage. Earthquake is for Heatran, one of my team’s biggest problems.

Gyarados (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Lance considers him a dragon, so I do to. Moxie is over Intimidate because after my Dragon Dance boost, Moxie can allow Gyarados to reach 900+ Attack. Powerful and potent. Waterfall allows a change of taste in the team, and Stone Edge is the sole Rock move on the team. Earthquake may seem redundant, but it’s crucial because Electric Pokemon like to switch into Gyarados. I originally picked him because of his synergy with the next Pokemon…

SUPPORT

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon

A Classic Dragon’s Best Friend. He traps Steel types and rips them to shreds. HP Fire is my solution to Scizor and Ferrothorn, while Thunderbolt makes Skarmory cry. Substitute allow me to scout when I’m not using him against Steel types; opponents seem to like to use U-Turn and bring in Starmie, so my Substitute allows me to survive long enough to hit it with Thunderbolt. Flash Cannon… has some uses. It’s nice for the occasional surprise attack on Tyranitar.

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Hail
- Softboiled
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
Okay, that’s your standard Blissey. Softboiled for HP and Toxic for stall. Okay, Flamethrower is a little odd, but it takes out Steel types (and the occasional Terrakion yesterday :P). But wait… Hail? Hail was originally Aromatherapy, and while I miss being able to cure Gyarados of Paralysis (He seems to be a Thunder Wave magnet), Hail has saved me. Why? So many teams are reliant on weather, and by canceling their weather with Hail (how many Hail teams are there?) I foil their strategy. Venusaur charges Solarbeam, Hail. Heatran goes to abuse a boosted Fire Blast in the sun, Hail. It actually allows Blissey to outlast Heatran, who is immune to Flamethrower and Toxic. Blissey is my solution for Starmie and Gengar and other Special Attackers.

Battles usually flow as such: Metagross sets up SR, then I shuffle between Gyrados and Magnezone until the opponents are weakened (or get lucky with Gyrados sweeping). Then I pull in Haxorus once the Steel types are out and he usually takes out a good 2 or 3 Pokemon before I retreat and send out Blissey or Metagross (if he survived). I bring Haxorus back into the battle at the next moment and then continue attacking. If I hit trouble, Salamence steps in and can usually break the opponents down with his more unusual moveset.



Our biggest weakness is weather teams, especially Sandstorm ones. The Sandstorm hinders my sweeps and Gyrados is the only sure way to eliminate Sandstorm sweepers. One T-Tar and Hippowdon are out of the way, Blissey can Hail us to safety, but it may be too late.

Another threat is Heatran- the team has no real way of dealing with him. Gyrados and Haxorus' Earthquakes work, but they're not always reliable.

Any suggestions would be appreciated- including, but not limited to, adding a different Pokemon, moveset changes, item changes, etc.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MacBook]

You have two pokemon who are weak to stealth rock and you rely on them to come in and out to break down the team? I strongly suggest a rapid spinner or magic bouncer to prevent hazards. Also your Bliss will not outlast a Heatran. Heatran is immune to both Toxic and Flamethrower.

However props to you for scarf Haxorus. He is a nice revenge killer, but watch out for being revenge killed yourself if you are stuck into Outrage. In particular Mamoswine and Landorus will like to hit you with an Ice attack to knock you the fuck down.

I will say that any Terrakion will gladly trash your team. Gyara and Mence get crushed by stone edge, because neither of them have intimidate. Blissey and Magnezone get thrown down by Close Combat.

All and all I suggest an offensive rapid spinner, like Starmie. Starmie is quick doubles as a good check-ish to some landorus, mamoswine, and terrakion. She fits nicely on this team because it is more offensive. I would probably replace Blissey because she really isn't doing much except using toxic. Starmie can be a nice counter to weather if you play her right. So here is the set I would use:

Starmie @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Natural Cure
4 Hp / 252 Spe / 252 SpA
Timid
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt / Recover
- Rapid Spin

Thunderbolt can be replaced by recover because you already have magnezone. But if you choose recover go with Leftovers as well.

I know it might suck not to have a pokemon that can sponge special hits and change the weather, but give it a try and i don't think you will be disappointed.

 

[destinyunknown]

Hey VentusVictory,

This team looks quite decent, but there are some ways you can improve it. First, I think you should completely follow MacBook's suggestion of using Starmie, as your team is really weak to entry hazards, and Starmie can patch up this weakness with Rapid Spin, while being able to put pressure on the opponent and revenge kill threats like Latios or Terrakion thanks to its great speed.

Secondly, your team looks very weak to some fast sweepers such as opposing Haxorus, Terrakion, Substitute Gengar, Alakazam or Psyshock Latios. Since Magnezone isn't really necessary for your team (as Gyarados and Salamence can lure and dispose of most Steel-types already), Choice Band Scizor would be a great replacement for Magnezone, as it provides you with a switch in for a myriad of special sweepers and a great revenge killer with its powerful Bullet Punch. It can also U-turn to give Gyarados or Salamence chances to switch in. Here's the set:

Scizor@Choice Band | Technician
Adamant Nature | 248 Hp / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Bullet Punch / U-turn / Superpower / Pursuit

 

[King of Blades]

Hello.
This is a good team, but there are many changes that can be made to increase its effectiveness. First of all, as said before, you have a terrakion weakness. To combat this weakness, I agree with DestinyUnknown's suggestion of using scizor over magnezone. Both of your dragons have coverage moves capable of taking out the threats that magnezone beats. There is also a different set of scizor's that I would recommend that you may find more useful than the choice band set.

Scizor
Adamant | 244 HP, 252 Atk, 12 Speed | Leftovers / Life Orb / Expert Belt / Iron Plate / Choice Band | Technician

~U-Turn / Bug Bite
~Bullet Punch
~Superpower / Pursuit
~Roost / Swords Dance / Superpower / Pursuit

U-Turn is for obligatory STAB. Bug Bite can be chosen if you wish for higher power and do not want to remove swords dance boosts. Bullet Punch is there for revenge killing stuff such as tyranitar and terrakion. Superpower is there for hitting stuff such as heatran and magnezone super effectively and hard. Pursuit can be used if you wish to nab pesky lati@ses, Gengars, or even Shedinjas (no one ever uses him, but still) as they switch out. In the fourth slot, roost can be used if you wish to continue threatening annoying pokemon on the opponent's team and increase scizor's longevity. Swords Dance can be used if you wish to set up and sweep with scizor's three moves. When you chose a coverage move in the third slot, if you wish for the other one, you can also use that in the fourth slot as well.
Leftovers can be used for extra recovery. Life orb is for a power increase. Either expert belt or iron plate can be used to bluff a choice band. Which one you use depends on whether you will be hitting super effectively or spamming bullet punch more.

If none of this interests you, you can just equip a choice band and use any of the listed attacking moves.

Due to the fact that both of your pokemon designed to punch holes in the other team are weak to stealth rock, I agree with MacBook's suggestion of starmie over blissey. Blissey does not have very good synergy with this team, and starmie will be more effective in opening the door for haxorus and scizor to clean up. The suggested set should do just fine.

As for haxorus, I suggest replacing either brick break or dual chop with dragon claw. Dragon claw is useful for those times when predicting switches is too risky. Due to the fact that most steel types rely on switching in on outrage in order to ko back with hidden power ice, (heatran) dragon claw is a way of inflicting damage with great coverage, and still being able to switch out if nasty steel types feel like ruining your fun.

If for some weird reason you decide to keep magnezone, I would suggest replacing flash cannon, thunderbolt, or substitute with volt switch in order to form a volt-turn combination.

These suggestions should help your team succeed more.

Good luck with the team!

 

[VentusVictory]

To make it easier I replied in green in the quotes.

You have two pokemon who are weak to stealth rock and you rely on them to come in and out to break down the team? I strongly suggest a rapid spinner or magic bouncer to prevent hazards. Also your Bliss will not outlast a Heatran. Heatran is immune to both Toxic and Flamethrower. Good point, I didn't notice that about SR.

However props to you for scarf Haxorus. He is a nice revenge killer, but watch out for being revenge killed yourself if you are stuck into Outrage. In particular Mamoswine and Landorus will like to hit you with an Ice attack to knock you the fuck down.True, that was my problem when I first began using this team. Now I make sure I'm careful when I use Outrage- when in doubt I'll sometimes use Dual-Chop so that I'm not locked into Outrage.

I will say that any Terrakion will gladly trash your team. Gyara and Mence get crushed by stone edge, because neither of them have intimidate. Blissey and Magnezone get thrown down by Close Combat. Strangely I haven't versed him often, but I'm sure I will sometime soon....

All and all I suggest an offensive rapid spinner, like Starmie. Starmie is quick doubles as a good check-ish to some landorus, mamoswine, and terrakion. She fits nicely on this team because it is more offensive. I would probably replace Blissey because she really isn't doing much except using toxic. Starmie can be a nice counter to weather if you play her right. So here is the set I would use:

Starmie @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Natural Cure
4 Hp / 252 Spe / 252 SpA
Timid
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt / Recover
- Rapid Spin

Thunderbolt can be replaced by recover because you already have magnezone. But if you choose recover go with Leftovers as well.

I know it might suck not to have a pokemon that can sponge special hits and change the weather, but give it a try and i don't think you will be disappointed.

Thanks, I'll give her/him/it a shot!

Hey VentusVictory,

This team looks quite decent, but there are some ways you can improve it. First, I think you should completely follow MacBook's suggestion of using Starmie, as your team is really weak to entry hazards, and Starmie can patch up this weakness with Rapid Spin, while being able to put pressure on the opponent and revenge kill threats like Latios or Terrakion thanks to its great speed. Okay, your words helped me listen to MacBook's advice.

Secondly, your team looks very weak to some fast sweepers such as opposing Haxorus, Terrakion, Substitute Gengar, Alakazam or Psyshock Latios. Since Magnezone isn't really necessary for your team (as Gyarados and Salamence can lure and dispose of most Steel-types already), Choice Band Scizor would be a great replacement for Magnezone, as it provides you with a switch in for a myriad of special sweepers and a great revenge killer with its powerful Bullet Punch. It can also U-turn to give Gyarados or Salamence chances to switch in. Here's the set:

Scizor@Choice Band | Technician
Adamant Nature | 248 Hp / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Bullet Punch / U-turn / Superpower / Pursuit
As much as I like my Magnezone, I will admit he's not as useful as his allies. Scizor's a nice idea, I'll give him a go.

Hello.
This is a good team, but there are many changes that can be made to increase its effectiveness. First of all, as said before, you have a terrakion weakness. To combat this weakness, I agree with DestinyUnknown's suggestion of using scizor over magnezone. Both of your dragons have coverage moves capable of taking out the threats that magnezone beats. There is also a different set of scizor's that I would recommend that you may find more useful than the choice band set.

Scizor
Adamant | 244 HP, 252 Atk, 12 Speed | Leftovers / Life Orb / Expert Belt / Iron Plate / Choice Band | Technician

~U-Turn / Bug Bite
~Bullet Punch
~Superpower / Pursuit
~Roost / Swords Dance / Superpower / Pursuit

U-Turn is for obligatory STAB. Bug Bite can be chosen if you wish for higher power and do not want to remove swords dance boosts. Bullet Punch is there for revenge killing stuff such as tyranitar and terrakion. Superpower is there for hitting stuff such as heatran and magnezone super effectively and hard. Pursuit can be used if you wish to nab pesky lati@ses, Gengars, or even Shedinjas (no one ever uses him, but still) as they switch out. In the fourth slot, roost can be used if you wish to continue threatening annoying pokemon on the opponent's team and increase scizor's longevity. Swords Dance can be used if you wish to set up and sweep with scizor's three moves. When you chose a coverage move in the third slot, if you wish for the other one, you can also use that in the fourth slot as well.
Leftovers can be used for extra recovery. Life orb is for a power increase. Either expert belt or iron plate can be used to bluff a choice band. Which one you use depends on whether you will be hitting super effectively or spamming bullet punch more.

If none of this interests you, you can just equip a choice band and use any of the listed attacking moves.

Thanks, I think I'll go with this set over having to Choice Item users. Expert Belt will be my original choice, and I'll tweak it if it's not working.

Due to the fact that both of your pokemon designed to punch holes in the other team are weak to stealth rock, I agree with MacBook's suggestion of starmie over blissey. Blissey does not have very good synergy with this team, and starmie will be more effective in opening the door for haxorus and scizor to clean up. The suggested set should do just fine.

Okay, this is the nail in the coffin. See ya Blissey!

As for haxorus, I suggest replacing either brick break or dual chop with dragon claw. Dragon claw is useful for those times when predicting switches is too risky. Due to the fact that most steel types rely on switching in on outrage in order to ko back with hidden power ice, (heatran) dragon claw is a way of inflicting damage with great coverage, and still being able to switch out if nasty steel types feel like ruining your fun.

I think I'll keep Dual Chop for now. It's my only reliable way of breaking Breloom and Baton Pass chains. It's only slightly less than Dragon Claw.

If for some weird reason you decide to keep magnezone, I would suggest replacing flash cannon, thunderbolt, or substitute with volt switch in order to form a volt-turn combination.

See ya Magnezone...

These suggestions should help your team succeed more.

Good luck with the team!

Thanks for all your tips! So Magnezone and Blissey will be replaced by Starmie and Scizor. I'll test this and post again.

One other problem I personally have is that I can't deal with Breloom. I just shut down and get frustrated when I can't touch him (the irony is that Breloom used to be one of my favorite Pokemon in RS). Any tips on how to use what I have to beat him, without any specialized Breloom beater?

 

[King of Blades]

Combatting breloom should be decently easy once you learn which pokemon on this team are the best sleep fodder. Salamence can roast him with a fire blast or just unleash the rage that has been invoked. Scizor can also revenge kill, as breloom is quite frail. Haxorus just generally curb stomps breloom. In short, once you play more with this team and gain even more experience with it, breloom should not be a problem as you are not excessively weak to it.

 

[ZhengTann]

Just a nitpick...

It actually allows Blissey to outlast Heatran, who resists Flamethrower and Toxic.

Resistances and immunities are totally different. I'd suggest this...

It actually allows Blissey to outlast Heatran, who is immune to Flamethrower and Toxic.

Aside from that, the others have suggested solid comments, so I haven't much to add. Scarfing Haxorus makes it the sole revenge killer of your team, though (unless you replaced Magnezone with Scizor), so I'd suggest running Jolly instead of Adamant nature on Haxorus, to speed-tie with opposing Scarfed Haxorus and Modest Scarfed Hydreigon. If you need a faster revenge-killer, though, Scarf MoxieMence instead and Band Haxorus to change its roles to wallbreaking. With Starmie spinning away the hazards, they can come in enough times to rip opposing teams and pave the way for DD Gyarados sweep.

 

[VentusVictory]

Combatting breloom should be decently easy once you learn which pokemon on this team are the best sleep fodder. Salamence can roast him with a fire blast or just unleash the rage that has been invoked. Scizor can also revenge kill, as breloom is quite frail. Haxorus just generally curb stomps breloom. In short, once you play more with this team and gain even more experience with it, breloom should not be a problem as you are not excessively weak to it.

'K thanks for the advice!

Can you use a different colour for replies if it's no problem, the green is really bright and hurts your eyes

Sorry about that! In the future I won't do that, but I it's a bit cumbersome to try to correct right now.

Just a nitpick...
Resistances and immunities are totally different. I'd suggest this...

True. Technical slip.

Aside from that, the others have suggested solid comments, so I haven't much to add. Scarfing Haxorus makes it the sole revenge killer of your team, though (unless you replaced Magnezone with Scizor), so I'd suggest running Jolly instead of Adamant nature on Haxorus, to speed-tie with opposing Scarfed Haxorus and Modest Scarfed Hydreigon. If you need a faster revenge-killer, though, Scarf MoxieMence instead and Band Haxorus to change its roles to wallbreaking. With Starmie spinning away the hazards, they can come in enough times to rip opposing teams and pave the way for DD Gyarados sweep.

I have subbed Magnezone for Scizor, so I don't think I need to worry about changing Haxy anyway. I think I'll keep it as it is for now.

As a side note, I've won 8 battles and only lost 2 (one to a Shell Smash Cloyster where my Meteor Mashes missed and another where Hydro Pump and Draco Meteor missed at crucial moments) since I've changed the team.