Introduction
Hey there, I'm quite new to competitive battling and this is my first time submitting a team for help so please bear with me if i seem like a noob or I'm uninformed. I've made many many teams that have failed because of either bad synergy or no specific roles and I have encountered many situations where one pokemon is enough to sweep my whole team with one attack. After looking through Smogon Forums and reading about some teams I decided to take some of the team building strategies and making my own team that would not fail. All i need to do now is to refine it. Also sorry if most of the text is my ranting xD I'm not exactly sure what to say in this so I'm trying my best to keep it as professional as I can.
Team at a glance:
Team Building Process:
Team in Detail:
Blazo (Heatran) (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Heatran is my Anti-Lead because its moveset has a very nice type coverage that could defeat almost any threat (emphasis on almost). It is very very effective against Sunny Day teams since it can take all of Ninetale's attacks and deal a super-effective Earth Power to blow out its brains. However, it isn't the greatest lead I can ask for since it is easily destroyed by Fighting, Ground (even with Air Balloon), and Water. Once Air Balloon is gone it is basically a glass cannon waiting for that Earthquake to destroy it. But it's upsides are basically crucial to my team since there is almost no pokemon (that I know of) that can has Flash Fire, a move to DESTROY Fire Types, and can set up Stealth Rocks all at the same time. It is the only pokemon I have that can set up hazards and it is the only pokemon with a Fire move to get rid of those annoying Ferrothorns, Scizors, and walls.
Kondor (Breloom) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb
A long time ago, I really didn't like Breloom. Even though it had Spore, I thought it would always die before Spore was effective with it's weak stats. However, I was proven wrong after using Breloom in battle. Spore is very effective to my team as it can shut off the Pokemon that caused most problems to my team (Chansey, Blissey, Salamence, etc.) and allow me to set-up to defeat them. Substitute lets Breloom set-up Focus Punch and also give him a safe barrier from a super-effective attack that could have killed it. Focus Punch is the main move to kill pokemon, while Seed Bomb is coverage against Water types and Ghost types that can block Focus Punch. It is also my only pokemon that can absorb Grass attacks (since I cannot afford to have Heatran lose Air Balloon). The only problem I have with Breloom is that it is really fragile and squishy that it dies quite quickly.
Lyne (Milotic) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Dragon Tail
Milotic is a new add-on to my team. In fact I am still testing her, and would not mind changing her for Vaporeon if someone was to give me some help. However, with the time that I used Milotic, she was incredibly useful. Milotic has such high SpD that most moves don't do anything to her. She can effectively wall and effective attack with her high SpA. In fact I use Milotic to block and wipe-out Dragon types with Ice Beam when Heatran is dead. Scald gives Milotic a chance to cripple the physical attacks that try to threaten her. Dragon Tail is one of my ways to get rid of status boosting pokemon (Stockpiles, Quiver Dance, CM, Bulk Up especially) and also deal damage with Stealth Rocks. Marvel Scale is ridiculous, I love it. Now Milotic is not only a good tank with high SpA, but also a great status absorber that could raise her tanking abilities if hit by a status effect.
Breakdown (Haxorus) (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
Haxorus is the a pokemon I only use during late-game. He is the pokemon I bring out when I got rid of the major threats that could hurt him so he could set up D-dance and just rape. Outrage is the move I use to rape most of the team, and with the help of Lum Berry, the confusion doesn't effect Haxorus's sweeping so it continues to destroy. Earthquake is very helpful to destroy the pokemon that can resist Dragon type attacks and to destroy certain walls that are in the way. Dragon Tail is used as a Dragon attack that does not send Haxorus on a rampage, it also allows me to juggle the opponents pokemon the same way Milotic does it.
Everglow (Reuniclus) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Recover
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
Reuniclus is hands down my favorite pokemon on this team. It won me so many battles just because of its amazing bulk and high SpA. It is a very crucial part of my team. Magic Guard allows it to be an absolutely amazing status absorber since it is uneffected by burn or poison, and it is also immune to damage from sandstorm and any hazard entries. Reuniclus also has Recover to heal itself after taking many many hits. Bulk Up is the key to Reuniclus's success, not only does it raise Reuniclus's sweeping ability, but it also makes Reuniclus much harder to kill. Psychic and Focus Blast are both all Reuniclus needs for it to deal Neutral damage to almost every pokemon and Calm Mind makes it so that it could 2HKO or OHKO Chansey or Blissey after spamming it many times (like 5-7 times hahah). It also saves my team from the many Fighting type Pokemon in this new meta.
Calm (Quagsire) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Quagsire is another crucial part of my team because of its amazing ability, Unaware. It has stopped many instances where my team would have been obliterated. It also has enough Def to survive a few hits and can also sweep weakened pokemon with supereffective attacks. Scald is there to cripple physical attacks (like Milotic). Recover is there for the same reason that all of my bulky pokemon have, to heal. Toxic is to get rid of those annoying walls to make it hard for Quagsire to break through, or just to hurt pokemon that Quagsire cannot hurt (due to its mediocre offensive stats). Earthquake is to give Quagsire better coverage than the usual Ice Beam. I am very happy with Quagsire, however, I am not happy with its set. I would really like to change it because it seems like its not at its best, so I would be happy for some suggestions.
Main Threats:(That I can think of)
By Politoed, I mean rain dance teams in general. My team does not have much type coverage against water types, besides Breloom, but once BReloom is gone the only way for me to beat a Rain Dance team is to use D-dance Haxorus or CM Reuniclus to destroy them. However, if I were to meet a Quagsire then it would be GG.
Conkeldurr is very hard to get past. Since it's so bulky the only pokemon I can use to hurt it is usually Reuniclus, but it's Sucker Punch would always beat me and I would be screwed once Reuniclus dies.
MixMence, Latios, and Latias are big problems to my teams because of their wide movepools and strong attacks. Draco Meteor is strong enough to OHKO Quagsire, Haxorus, Breloom and sometimes Milotic. It even brings Reuniclus to low health. Also, Brick Break will definitely destroy Heatran. Latios and Latias are not as big as a threat to my team as MixMence is, but they are annoyances to my Heatran Anti-Lead as some know Trick while almost all of them know Surf and can destroy my only defense against Fire as well as my only hazard entry before it does its job. Which technically almost ruins my chance of winning.
These three pokemon represent my weakness to Ghost, Dark, and Bug type attacks. And unfortunately, all of these types are very common. I realized that my team is very weak to these attacks and I definitely need to add in some changes to counter them.
Things I definitely need help changing:
I would like to change my Quagsire moveset, it is not giving me the best of its walling ability and I am finding a way to increase its defenses.
I would also like to find a way to either make Breloom less prone to dying or switching it out for another pokemon, preferably Fighting or Grass.
I wouldn't mind changing out Milotic for Vaporeon and I am willing to experiment for any set that seems to fit in any of my pokemon. (maybe not Reuniclus though)
Hey there, I'm quite new to competitive battling and this is my first time submitting a team for help so please bear with me if i seem like a noob or I'm uninformed. I've made many many teams that have failed because of either bad synergy or no specific roles and I have encountered many situations where one pokemon is enough to sweep my whole team with one attack. After looking through Smogon Forums and reading about some teams I decided to take some of the team building strategies and making my own team that would not fail. All i need to do now is to refine it. Also sorry if most of the text is my ranting xD I'm not exactly sure what to say in this so I'm trying my best to keep it as professional as I can.
Team at a glance:
Team Building Process:
Before I mention how I made my team, I would like to say that the process of making the team wasn't very skillful so please excuse me. lol
I started out my team with the dynamic duo, Jellicent and Ferrothorn. I loved the idea of two pokemon that had coverage of almost all of other's weaknesses. So I chose these two as the beginning of my journey to create my first "successful" team.
Then I decided that since I already had a grass and a water type, I might as well add a fire type to make it a Grass/Water/Fire core. (Even if Infernape has terrible defenses) hahah I know not very smart.
After I set up my core, I needed sweepers to do some damage. So i added in my favorite CM Reuniclus and D-dance Haxorus.
I decided to fill in my last slot with Hydreigon because of its Dark typing(Jellicent and Reuniclus made the team weak to ghost and psychic).
Well after getting beat up and used to mop the floor, I made some major changes. I took out my Ferrothorn after fighting a Magnezone which basically trapped me, set up on me, killed me, and then raped my team. After that I had no more faith in Ferrothorn(I know I could use Shed Skin, but my image of the Almighty Ferrothorn was just ruined) so I replaced it with my favorite Grass pokemon, Breloom. Then I decided that Hydreigon just didn't do much for my team, so I took it out. It took me a long time to finally decide what to put back in, but I eventually chose Unaware Quagsire to stop all of the sweepers that usually take out my team after some D-dances or CMs or Bulk Ups. It also had a great immunity to Thunder types (stupid Magnezone) that protected my Jellicent.
I played around more and I was pleasantly surprised that my team actually did better. However, my team still had weaknesses to Flying, Psychic, Ghost, Dark, and Grass type moves. And that was when I noticed that Infernape and Breloom (both Fighting) and Jellicent and Reuniclus (both weak to Dark and Ghost) should be seperated from each other. I took out Infernape for Heatran, mostly because of my hard time fending with Sunny Day teams. Infernape couldn't do anything against a Ninetales lead, while Heatran could Earth Power and get a boost with Flash Fire if the opponent was dumb enough to attack me with fire. Heatran was also able to set up Stealth Rock which nice is for me to have. Then I got rid of Jellicent (because I preferred Reuniclus) for Rotom-W. It was nice to have Thunder/Water type with Levitate to avoid Ground moves.
Finally, I took out Rotom-W. I didn't like how it had no Recover(I needed another Bulky Water to make up for Quagsire's weak SpD stat). I needed a tank that could heal itself and defend my team from strong Special Sweepers and Milotic seemed like the pokemon I needed, since it was a status absorber with high SpD and SpA, Recover, Scald, and Dragon Tail for effective walling.
I started out my team with the dynamic duo, Jellicent and Ferrothorn. I loved the idea of two pokemon that had coverage of almost all of other's weaknesses. So I chose these two as the beginning of my journey to create my first "successful" team.
Then I decided that since I already had a grass and a water type, I might as well add a fire type to make it a Grass/Water/Fire core. (Even if Infernape has terrible defenses) hahah I know not very smart.
After I set up my core, I needed sweepers to do some damage. So i added in my favorite CM Reuniclus and D-dance Haxorus.
I decided to fill in my last slot with Hydreigon because of its Dark typing(Jellicent and Reuniclus made the team weak to ghost and psychic).
Well after getting beat up and used to mop the floor, I made some major changes. I took out my Ferrothorn after fighting a Magnezone which basically trapped me, set up on me, killed me, and then raped my team. After that I had no more faith in Ferrothorn(I know I could use Shed Skin, but my image of the Almighty Ferrothorn was just ruined) so I replaced it with my favorite Grass pokemon, Breloom. Then I decided that Hydreigon just didn't do much for my team, so I took it out. It took me a long time to finally decide what to put back in, but I eventually chose Unaware Quagsire to stop all of the sweepers that usually take out my team after some D-dances or CMs or Bulk Ups. It also had a great immunity to Thunder types (stupid Magnezone) that protected my Jellicent.
I played around more and I was pleasantly surprised that my team actually did better. However, my team still had weaknesses to Flying, Psychic, Ghost, Dark, and Grass type moves. And that was when I noticed that Infernape and Breloom (both Fighting) and Jellicent and Reuniclus (both weak to Dark and Ghost) should be seperated from each other. I took out Infernape for Heatran, mostly because of my hard time fending with Sunny Day teams. Infernape couldn't do anything against a Ninetales lead, while Heatran could Earth Power and get a boost with Flash Fire if the opponent was dumb enough to attack me with fire. Heatran was also able to set up Stealth Rock which nice is for me to have. Then I got rid of Jellicent (because I preferred Reuniclus) for Rotom-W. It was nice to have Thunder/Water type with Levitate to avoid Ground moves.
Finally, I took out Rotom-W. I didn't like how it had no Recover(I needed another Bulky Water to make up for Quagsire's weak SpD stat). I needed a tank that could heal itself and defend my team from strong Special Sweepers and Milotic seemed like the pokemon I needed, since it was a status absorber with high SpD and SpA, Recover, Scald, and Dragon Tail for effective walling.
Team in Detail:
Blazo (Heatran) (F) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Heatran is my Anti-Lead because its moveset has a very nice type coverage that could defeat almost any threat (emphasis on almost). It is very very effective against Sunny Day teams since it can take all of Ninetale's attacks and deal a super-effective Earth Power to blow out its brains. However, it isn't the greatest lead I can ask for since it is easily destroyed by Fighting, Ground (even with Air Balloon), and Water. Once Air Balloon is gone it is basically a glass cannon waiting for that Earthquake to destroy it. But it's upsides are basically crucial to my team since there is almost no pokemon (that I know of) that can has Flash Fire, a move to DESTROY Fire Types, and can set up Stealth Rocks all at the same time. It is the only pokemon I have that can set up hazards and it is the only pokemon with a Fire move to get rid of those annoying Ferrothorns, Scizors, and walls.
Kondor (Breloom) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb
A long time ago, I really didn't like Breloom. Even though it had Spore, I thought it would always die before Spore was effective with it's weak stats. However, I was proven wrong after using Breloom in battle. Spore is very effective to my team as it can shut off the Pokemon that caused most problems to my team (Chansey, Blissey, Salamence, etc.) and allow me to set-up to defeat them. Substitute lets Breloom set-up Focus Punch and also give him a safe barrier from a super-effective attack that could have killed it. Focus Punch is the main move to kill pokemon, while Seed Bomb is coverage against Water types and Ghost types that can block Focus Punch. It is also my only pokemon that can absorb Grass attacks (since I cannot afford to have Heatran lose Air Balloon). The only problem I have with Breloom is that it is really fragile and squishy that it dies quite quickly.
Lyne (Milotic) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Dragon Tail
Milotic is a new add-on to my team. In fact I am still testing her, and would not mind changing her for Vaporeon if someone was to give me some help. However, with the time that I used Milotic, she was incredibly useful. Milotic has such high SpD that most moves don't do anything to her. She can effectively wall and effective attack with her high SpA. In fact I use Milotic to block and wipe-out Dragon types with Ice Beam when Heatran is dead. Scald gives Milotic a chance to cripple the physical attacks that try to threaten her. Dragon Tail is one of my ways to get rid of status boosting pokemon (Stockpiles, Quiver Dance, CM, Bulk Up especially) and also deal damage with Stealth Rocks. Marvel Scale is ridiculous, I love it. Now Milotic is not only a good tank with high SpA, but also a great status absorber that could raise her tanking abilities if hit by a status effect.
Breakdown (Haxorus) (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
Haxorus is the a pokemon I only use during late-game. He is the pokemon I bring out when I got rid of the major threats that could hurt him so he could set up D-dance and just rape. Outrage is the move I use to rape most of the team, and with the help of Lum Berry, the confusion doesn't effect Haxorus's sweeping so it continues to destroy. Earthquake is very helpful to destroy the pokemon that can resist Dragon type attacks and to destroy certain walls that are in the way. Dragon Tail is used as a Dragon attack that does not send Haxorus on a rampage, it also allows me to juggle the opponents pokemon the same way Milotic does it.
Everglow (Reuniclus) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Recover
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
Reuniclus is hands down my favorite pokemon on this team. It won me so many battles just because of its amazing bulk and high SpA. It is a very crucial part of my team. Magic Guard allows it to be an absolutely amazing status absorber since it is uneffected by burn or poison, and it is also immune to damage from sandstorm and any hazard entries. Reuniclus also has Recover to heal itself after taking many many hits. Bulk Up is the key to Reuniclus's success, not only does it raise Reuniclus's sweeping ability, but it also makes Reuniclus much harder to kill. Psychic and Focus Blast are both all Reuniclus needs for it to deal Neutral damage to almost every pokemon and Calm Mind makes it so that it could 2HKO or OHKO Chansey or Blissey after spamming it many times (like 5-7 times hahah). It also saves my team from the many Fighting type Pokemon in this new meta.
Calm (Quagsire) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Quagsire is another crucial part of my team because of its amazing ability, Unaware. It has stopped many instances where my team would have been obliterated. It also has enough Def to survive a few hits and can also sweep weakened pokemon with supereffective attacks. Scald is there to cripple physical attacks (like Milotic). Recover is there for the same reason that all of my bulky pokemon have, to heal. Toxic is to get rid of those annoying walls to make it hard for Quagsire to break through, or just to hurt pokemon that Quagsire cannot hurt (due to its mediocre offensive stats). Earthquake is to give Quagsire better coverage than the usual Ice Beam. I am very happy with Quagsire, however, I am not happy with its set. I would really like to change it because it seems like its not at its best, so I would be happy for some suggestions.
Main Threats:(That I can think of)
By Politoed, I mean rain dance teams in general. My team does not have much type coverage against water types, besides Breloom, but once BReloom is gone the only way for me to beat a Rain Dance team is to use D-dance Haxorus or CM Reuniclus to destroy them. However, if I were to meet a Quagsire then it would be GG.
Conkeldurr is very hard to get past. Since it's so bulky the only pokemon I can use to hurt it is usually Reuniclus, but it's Sucker Punch would always beat me and I would be screwed once Reuniclus dies.
MixMence, Latios, and Latias are big problems to my teams because of their wide movepools and strong attacks. Draco Meteor is strong enough to OHKO Quagsire, Haxorus, Breloom and sometimes Milotic. It even brings Reuniclus to low health. Also, Brick Break will definitely destroy Heatran. Latios and Latias are not as big as a threat to my team as MixMence is, but they are annoyances to my Heatran Anti-Lead as some know Trick while almost all of them know Surf and can destroy my only defense against Fire as well as my only hazard entry before it does its job. Which technically almost ruins my chance of winning.
These three pokemon represent my weakness to Ghost, Dark, and Bug type attacks. And unfortunately, all of these types are very common. I realized that my team is very weak to these attacks and I definitely need to add in some changes to counter them.
Things I definitely need help changing:
I would like to change my Quagsire moveset, it is not giving me the best of its walling ability and I am finding a way to increase its defenses.
I would also like to find a way to either make Breloom less prone to dying or switching it out for another pokemon, preferably Fighting or Grass.
I wouldn't mind changing out Milotic for Vaporeon and I am willing to experiment for any set that seems to fit in any of my pokemon. (maybe not Reuniclus though)
