Hi, guys! I wanna show you the team I've been using for the past couple of weeks (brought me to 1700s). It works pretty well for me, but I feel like it could be improved since it lacks in the ability to deal efficiently with certain pokes. Ok, so, without further ado, the team:
Creation process:
The poke who I really wanted in this team was for sure Ferrothorn. I feel like my playstyle fits perfectly with the set I chose to use and I'll explain why in a second. The set is:
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
Then, the best leading pair I could find for Ferro was Tyranitar. As I'll describe later why.
The set for TTar is:
Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Punch (can live an EQ and KO back both landorus at +0 Atk as well as Garchomp)
In 99% of the games I played with this team I used Ferro as the lead poke. Why? Because there are mainly two types of pokemon trainers: the ones that lead with a support poke that can set hazards and/or cripple my lead and the ones that try and predict my lead so they can get the best match-up possible in order to force a switch and have a free turn of set up. I'll analyse a bit the most common leads I encountered:
Tyranitar w/ stealth rocks - I know for a fact that if tyranitar doesn't switch out first turn after seeing my Ferrothorn, it'll set up rocks or go for the fire-type move. In any case leech seed is my best option, since I can survive 4SpA Fire Blast with at least 25%. Usually, after they set up rocks, they are forced to switch out if TTar doesn't have any fire type attack (and support TTar doesn't), giving me the chance to free leech seed on their switch.
Excadrill @AirBalloon w/ SR - Since I don't want to switch into a mold breaker EQ with my Rotom later game, I usually choose to break the balloon right away with Power Whip and deal a good amount of damage (usually around 50%) to Excadrill as it goes for SR. He won't stay in since I can take a fully invested EQ, so I leech seed on the switch.
Landorus-T w/ SR - Pretty much same as TTar. If it goes for rocks, then free leech seed. If it goes for EQ or Superpower, I can take one and set seeds. If they switch, seeds all the way!
Greninja - First turn I scout for HP Fire with protect. In 50% of the situation, Greninja goes for Ice beam (which does 53% at most with a Modest nature and life orb). In the other 50% they either switch or go for HP fire and force me to switch in TTar. If they went for Ice beam though, Gyro Ball OHKOs everytime.
Manectric-Mega - 90% of the manectrics I encounter carry the fire type move, so I can't risk it. I go for protect as they mega-evolve so Ferro will get the Intimidate. Then I switch into TTar and eat the flamethrower. He won't want to stay and take an EQ so he will always switch there. That's the moment when I pursuit him and deal 52-75% so he is at the point where he will be KOed by Fake-Out + Bullet Punch from Medicham.
ZardY/Talonflame - Protect first turn to wait for Mega/scout switch (if they don't wanna take recoil+iron barbs), then I go for TTar and replace the Sun with sand so they can't solar beam me. I predict teir switch and go for Pursuit to deal a good amount of damage snince both are relatively frail on the physical side of defense.
For fast substitute users like Scoliopede and Gengar, spamming Gyro Ball is always a solution. If Gengar has focus blast though, it will most likely go for it first turn. As it deals at most 75% I can deal up to 90% with Gyro Ball. After that I can easily switch into something else, then kill Gengar later game with priority from Azu or Medicham.
Leads that put me in a bad position:
Brelloom - Immune to Seeds, deals at least neutral damage to everyone in my team and can spore any of my switch-in pokes. Belloom isn't used that often though, fearing Talonflame users. When it is used against me I usually let a poke to catch the Spore then switch into Chomp as he is the only one capable of dealing with Brelloom.
Heracross-Mega - Same as Brelloom, he deals at least neutral damage to every poke in my team and hits really hard if he has the chance to set up.
Other Ferrothorns - It's not that bad of a position, but most of them run SR and get them up for free, as I'm too afraid to switch into Medicham knowing my leech seed strategy. Eventually he switches out and other than the SR there's no other disadvantage.
Magnezone - Obviously, I won't lead with Ferro if I see a Magnezone in the opposing team, fearing Magnet Pull HP Fire, but if I mispredict and he doesn't lead with it, I won't be able to wear down some of his pokes with ferro as in the situations described above.
Ok, enough with early game strategies. About mid and late game:
After I weaken (or even KO) some pokes with Ferro and TTar, while trying to preserve them at a decent amount of health, I analyse the rest of my opponents team. Chomp, Medicham and Azu are all potent sweepers and I usually keep healthy the one with the best match-up against the other team while the other two are trying to weaken or KO the potential sweep-blockers.
With this being said, the sets for my attackers are:
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
If I can safely set a belly drum, the game is virtually over. Safely means that I got rid of Talonflame and Thundurus, which TTar handles, and of Venusaur and Ferrothorn, which Medicham handles. Pretty much straight forward strategy with this one.
Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Psycho Cut (to deal with Mega-Venusaur, which otherwise destroys my soul. Also nice STAB)
Probably the first thing you will notice about this set is the HP Ev investment. With this spread, Mega-Medicham can survive powerful attacks like Scarfchomp's Outrage or Lando-T EQ and KO back. It came in handy in many situations. Also, the combo "Fake out on switch in then Bullet Punch" finishes off many pokes that were previously weakened by the Ferr-TTar opening pair.
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge (predicting flying type switch in)
- Fire Blast (2HKO Ferrothorn and Scizor)
Garchomp is usually my late game sweeper. After all the fairies and steels are gone, his Outrage cleans up the field. Also he comes in handy with the ability to deal with threats that no one else can handle (e.g. Brelloom, Mega-Heracross, (Mega) Scizor).
As I felt that I needed a special attacker, as well as a levitate user, so I got Rotom-W and made it a Defensive Tank that can switch into physical threats, survive a hit or two and burn them with will-o-wisp. At that point I also needed a switch into Landorus since it was a really big threat to my team. Anyways, this is the set:
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
Conclusion:
This team's success is based a lot on the Ferrothorn Mindgames early game when you must predict your opponent's moves in order to weaken the opposing pokes as much as possible so you can clean up with priorities or Scarfchomp.
The team is far from perfect as I can see some pokes that constantly shut it down but whenever I try to make changes of pokes I end up messing up the synergy of the team as it is.
If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment. I'm looking forward to learn new ideas from you, guys! Thanks! :)
Oh, and sorry if I made any mistakes in writing. I'm not native english nor even that good at speaking it lol Thank you for understanding!
Importable:
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Psycho Cut
Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Punch
Creation process:
The poke who I really wanted in this team was for sure Ferrothorn. I feel like my playstyle fits perfectly with the set I chose to use and I'll explain why in a second. The set is:
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
Then, the best leading pair I could find for Ferro was Tyranitar. As I'll describe later why.
The set for TTar is:
Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Punch (can live an EQ and KO back both landorus at +0 Atk as well as Garchomp)
In 99% of the games I played with this team I used Ferro as the lead poke. Why? Because there are mainly two types of pokemon trainers: the ones that lead with a support poke that can set hazards and/or cripple my lead and the ones that try and predict my lead so they can get the best match-up possible in order to force a switch and have a free turn of set up. I'll analyse a bit the most common leads I encountered:
Tyranitar w/ stealth rocks - I know for a fact that if tyranitar doesn't switch out first turn after seeing my Ferrothorn, it'll set up rocks or go for the fire-type move. In any case leech seed is my best option, since I can survive 4SpA Fire Blast with at least 25%. Usually, after they set up rocks, they are forced to switch out if TTar doesn't have any fire type attack (and support TTar doesn't), giving me the chance to free leech seed on their switch.
Excadrill @AirBalloon w/ SR - Since I don't want to switch into a mold breaker EQ with my Rotom later game, I usually choose to break the balloon right away with Power Whip and deal a good amount of damage (usually around 50%) to Excadrill as it goes for SR. He won't stay in since I can take a fully invested EQ, so I leech seed on the switch.
Landorus-T w/ SR - Pretty much same as TTar. If it goes for rocks, then free leech seed. If it goes for EQ or Superpower, I can take one and set seeds. If they switch, seeds all the way!
Greninja - First turn I scout for HP Fire with protect. In 50% of the situation, Greninja goes for Ice beam (which does 53% at most with a Modest nature and life orb). In the other 50% they either switch or go for HP fire and force me to switch in TTar. If they went for Ice beam though, Gyro Ball OHKOs everytime.
Manectric-Mega - 90% of the manectrics I encounter carry the fire type move, so I can't risk it. I go for protect as they mega-evolve so Ferro will get the Intimidate. Then I switch into TTar and eat the flamethrower. He won't want to stay and take an EQ so he will always switch there. That's the moment when I pursuit him and deal 52-75% so he is at the point where he will be KOed by Fake-Out + Bullet Punch from Medicham.
ZardY/Talonflame - Protect first turn to wait for Mega/scout switch (if they don't wanna take recoil+iron barbs), then I go for TTar and replace the Sun with sand so they can't solar beam me. I predict teir switch and go for Pursuit to deal a good amount of damage snince both are relatively frail on the physical side of defense.
For fast substitute users like Scoliopede and Gengar, spamming Gyro Ball is always a solution. If Gengar has focus blast though, it will most likely go for it first turn. As it deals at most 75% I can deal up to 90% with Gyro Ball. After that I can easily switch into something else, then kill Gengar later game with priority from Azu or Medicham.
Leads that put me in a bad position:
Brelloom - Immune to Seeds, deals at least neutral damage to everyone in my team and can spore any of my switch-in pokes. Belloom isn't used that often though, fearing Talonflame users. When it is used against me I usually let a poke to catch the Spore then switch into Chomp as he is the only one capable of dealing with Brelloom.
Heracross-Mega - Same as Brelloom, he deals at least neutral damage to every poke in my team and hits really hard if he has the chance to set up.
Other Ferrothorns - It's not that bad of a position, but most of them run SR and get them up for free, as I'm too afraid to switch into Medicham knowing my leech seed strategy. Eventually he switches out and other than the SR there's no other disadvantage.
Magnezone - Obviously, I won't lead with Ferro if I see a Magnezone in the opposing team, fearing Magnet Pull HP Fire, but if I mispredict and he doesn't lead with it, I won't be able to wear down some of his pokes with ferro as in the situations described above.
Ok, enough with early game strategies. About mid and late game:
After I weaken (or even KO) some pokes with Ferro and TTar, while trying to preserve them at a decent amount of health, I analyse the rest of my opponents team. Chomp, Medicham and Azu are all potent sweepers and I usually keep healthy the one with the best match-up against the other team while the other two are trying to weaken or KO the potential sweep-blockers.
With this being said, the sets for my attackers are:
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
If I can safely set a belly drum, the game is virtually over. Safely means that I got rid of Talonflame and Thundurus, which TTar handles, and of Venusaur and Ferrothorn, which Medicham handles. Pretty much straight forward strategy with this one.
Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Psycho Cut (to deal with Mega-Venusaur, which otherwise destroys my soul. Also nice STAB)
Probably the first thing you will notice about this set is the HP Ev investment. With this spread, Mega-Medicham can survive powerful attacks like Scarfchomp's Outrage or Lando-T EQ and KO back. It came in handy in many situations. Also, the combo "Fake out on switch in then Bullet Punch" finishes off many pokes that were previously weakened by the Ferr-TTar opening pair.
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge (predicting flying type switch in)
- Fire Blast (2HKO Ferrothorn and Scizor)
Garchomp is usually my late game sweeper. After all the fairies and steels are gone, his Outrage cleans up the field. Also he comes in handy with the ability to deal with threats that no one else can handle (e.g. Brelloom, Mega-Heracross, (Mega) Scizor).
As I felt that I needed a special attacker, as well as a levitate user, so I got Rotom-W and made it a Defensive Tank that can switch into physical threats, survive a hit or two and burn them with will-o-wisp. At that point I also needed a switch into Landorus since it was a really big threat to my team. Anyways, this is the set:
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
Conclusion:
This team's success is based a lot on the Ferrothorn Mindgames early game when you must predict your opponent's moves in order to weaken the opposing pokes as much as possible so you can clean up with priorities or Scarfchomp.
The team is far from perfect as I can see some pokes that constantly shut it down but whenever I try to make changes of pokes I end up messing up the synergy of the team as it is.
If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment. I'm looking forward to learn new ideas from you, guys! Thanks! :)
Oh, and sorry if I made any mistakes in writing. I'm not native english nor even that good at speaking it lol Thank you for understanding!
Importable:
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Psycho Cut
Tyranitar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Punch