Hi folks,
This is my first foray back into competitive pokemon since 4th gen! I tried a bit of 6th and 7th, but I didn't get on with mega evolution or z moves, so I didn't stick at it. Now that those are both gone, along with half the national dex, I thought it'd be a good time to try and get back on the ladder. With that in mind, I've put together a team that follows a similar style to my playstyle from back in 4th Gen. I tried to cover all my bases, both defensively and offensively, but my knowledge of the meta is virtually non existent, so please bear with me if any of my picks are weird! I'd love some feedback on what looks workable and what doesn't.
Gyarados @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance
Gyarados is one of my all time favourite sweepers. The setup is quite simple, and as you will see over my team, very redundant with the rest of my team. The idea of the pokemon is to switch into a favourable matchup, Dragon Dance once, maybe twice and attack until it faints. Waterfall and Bounce have good STAB and Ice Fang rounds out the coverage for my team, hitting the flying types that are otherwise hard to cover. I prefer Moxie to Intimidate because I like the sweep potential more than the switch in, but if this doesn't end up working out very often I am open to switching this.
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Pyro Ball
- Bulk Up
- Court Change
Cinderace was my chosen starter in my game, I've always enjoyed playing the fire starter and his stats looked really good, sort of like a budget Blaziken. Pyro Ball is his strongest STAB move, and High Jump Kick covers rock types as well as hitting the other types that resist fire for neutral damage. I opted for Bulk up, which I haven't seen on anyone's builds, because every one of my pokemon needs the ability to setup in some way, and he hits like a runaway train if given that chance. Finally Court Change is paired with Rapid Spin further down because hazards really hurt my team. Heavy-Duty Boots help the hazard removal by allowing a free switch into stealth rocks. I couldn't work out if Court Change swaps screens over to the other side, so if it does, this might have to go.
Grimmsnarl (M) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Spirit Break
The glue that holds the team together, his role is to lead, setup screens and maybe a well placed taunt, then either faint or switch out to an appropriate sweeper. If he survives, he can come in again midgame and maybe get one more screen off. His EVs are to keep him alive as long as possible. Spirit Break is just a reliable STAB move that also slightly weakens Special sweepers as a bonus.
Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 136 SpD / 88 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Bulk Up
- Roost
- Substitute
Another setup sweeper, but this one is massive and bulky rather than fast. It can soak some hits, substitute to protect from status and roost off damage, then eventually start smashing things with brave bird. Similar to Grimm, the EV spread is to keep it alive while still outspeeding a few things, especially after a Max Airstream of 2. This guy, Gyarados and Dragapult are my prime Dynamax candidates.
Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
Another fast sweeper, he doubles up as a spinner, which also makes him faster now (loving that), Earthquake and Iron head for STAB coverage and Swords Dance for the setup. I know Sandrush isn't great without a Sand setter, but I don't think Mold Breaker is available at the moment (might be wrong on that). The Air Balloon is because I wanted another ground immunity, but this could just become a Life Orb given that I have Gyarados and Corviknight immune to ground.
Dragapult @ Life Orb
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Thunderbolt
Finally, I have Dragapult. He's super quick, his physical attack is very high, his coverage is great. His nature is so Thunderbolt isn't too weak, and Thunderbolt is there to cover flying and water types, both of which I haven't got much else to cover. Other than that, Dragon Dance for setup and Dragon Darts plus Phantom Force for STAB coverage rounds this guy out.
I can't see any specific types that hose my team, and offensively there are very few pokemon that I can't hit super effectively. That said, I'd love some thoughts on specific meta pokemon that I might struggle with etc.
Thanks folks
This is my first foray back into competitive pokemon since 4th gen! I tried a bit of 6th and 7th, but I didn't get on with mega evolution or z moves, so I didn't stick at it. Now that those are both gone, along with half the national dex, I thought it'd be a good time to try and get back on the ladder. With that in mind, I've put together a team that follows a similar style to my playstyle from back in 4th Gen. I tried to cover all my bases, both defensively and offensively, but my knowledge of the meta is virtually non existent, so please bear with me if any of my picks are weird! I'd love some feedback on what looks workable and what doesn't.
Gyarados @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance
Gyarados is one of my all time favourite sweepers. The setup is quite simple, and as you will see over my team, very redundant with the rest of my team. The idea of the pokemon is to switch into a favourable matchup, Dragon Dance once, maybe twice and attack until it faints. Waterfall and Bounce have good STAB and Ice Fang rounds out the coverage for my team, hitting the flying types that are otherwise hard to cover. I prefer Moxie to Intimidate because I like the sweep potential more than the switch in, but if this doesn't end up working out very often I am open to switching this.
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Pyro Ball
- Bulk Up
- Court Change
Cinderace was my chosen starter in my game, I've always enjoyed playing the fire starter and his stats looked really good, sort of like a budget Blaziken. Pyro Ball is his strongest STAB move, and High Jump Kick covers rock types as well as hitting the other types that resist fire for neutral damage. I opted for Bulk up, which I haven't seen on anyone's builds, because every one of my pokemon needs the ability to setup in some way, and he hits like a runaway train if given that chance. Finally Court Change is paired with Rapid Spin further down because hazards really hurt my team. Heavy-Duty Boots help the hazard removal by allowing a free switch into stealth rocks. I couldn't work out if Court Change swaps screens over to the other side, so if it does, this might have to go.
Grimmsnarl (M) @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Spirit Break
The glue that holds the team together, his role is to lead, setup screens and maybe a well placed taunt, then either faint or switch out to an appropriate sweeper. If he survives, he can come in again midgame and maybe get one more screen off. His EVs are to keep him alive as long as possible. Spirit Break is just a reliable STAB move that also slightly weakens Special sweepers as a bonus.
Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 136 SpD / 88 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Bulk Up
- Roost
- Substitute
Another setup sweeper, but this one is massive and bulky rather than fast. It can soak some hits, substitute to protect from status and roost off damage, then eventually start smashing things with brave bird. Similar to Grimm, the EV spread is to keep it alive while still outspeeding a few things, especially after a Max Airstream of 2. This guy, Gyarados and Dragapult are my prime Dynamax candidates.
Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
Another fast sweeper, he doubles up as a spinner, which also makes him faster now (loving that), Earthquake and Iron head for STAB coverage and Swords Dance for the setup. I know Sandrush isn't great without a Sand setter, but I don't think Mold Breaker is available at the moment (might be wrong on that). The Air Balloon is because I wanted another ground immunity, but this could just become a Life Orb given that I have Gyarados and Corviknight immune to ground.
Dragapult @ Life Orb
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Thunderbolt
Finally, I have Dragapult. He's super quick, his physical attack is very high, his coverage is great. His nature is so Thunderbolt isn't too weak, and Thunderbolt is there to cover flying and water types, both of which I haven't got much else to cover. Other than that, Dragon Dance for setup and Dragon Darts plus Phantom Force for STAB coverage rounds this guy out.
I can't see any specific types that hose my team, and offensively there are very few pokemon that I can't hit super effectively. That said, I'd love some thoughts on specific meta pokemon that I might struggle with etc.
Thanks folks
