Hello, this is a team which I have been having quite a bit of success with. But there are details that need fixing, and I don't know how to go about it. This team is based on versatility, and is decent at handling almost any situation. However there are some noteworthy exceptions to this, which I will go about in more detail later.
A house rule which I have for all of my serious teams (this being one of them, for the Slowpokes of you) is to Use No Legendaries. Heatran, Celeby, Cresselia - anything of which there only exists one of - are no-goes as far as I'm concerned.
The plan of the team is to debilitate his most important Pokemon(s), catch him off-guard and then suddenly introduce Smeargle to the frontlines when my opponent is unprepared to deal with him. This means that shuffling around and scouting what my opponent has to deal with Smeargle is of utmost importance. Anything that is faster than Smeargle and won't get Spored and/or is a Phazer has a WANTED status, as far as my team is concerned.
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Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Naughty
EV Spread: 252 Attack, 176 Speed & 82 Special Attack
U-Turn
Earthquake
Fire Blast
Outrage
Role: Scouting, cleaning and fainting things
Comments: Flygon is a pokemon which scales very well with one's prediction skill. She has the ability to hurt pretty much anything, much like MixMence except that Flygon has some notable advantages over it. These include STAB EQ, U-Turn, immunity to Electric and SR resistance. With these additional tools, Flygon takes on the task of being the one that generally does the fainting for my team. Her problems aren't many and nothing U-Turn can't handle. Overall, a solid team member which I don't intend to replace. A battered Flygon has saved the day with 1-2 last resort Outrages when everything else is fainted or fainting on more than one occasion. One thing which has continued to be very helpful is that non-scarfed Lucarios and Infernapes are both outsped and taken out by a single Earthquake.
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Brave
EV Spread: 236 HP, 172 Attack & 102 Defense
Swords Dance
Aqua Jet
Earthquake
Ice Beam
Role: Sweeping, revenge-killing and laughing at Bullet Punch
Comments: Empoleon is good at what he does, and that's making people underestimate him. I've swept teams with Empoleon alone, mostly thanks to Aqua Jet being such an excellent STAB priority move. Few things resist it that will not get obliterated by Empoleon's other two moves once he has a pair of Swords Dances under his belt, while he is more than bulky enough to take the return blows.
I can fool people into thinking that it's a special-based Empoleon by using Ice Beam and nothing else at first, if otherwise is not necessary of course. Empoleon is a lot more threatening than he looks and like Flygon, he can brag about being able to easily take out both Lucario and Infernape, provided that he isn't switching in on them. Unlike many other sweepers, being TW'ed isn't a problem at all for Empoleon, thanks to his STAB priority move. Still, Empoleon is sometimes rather lacklustre and together with Tangrowth, the two I consider most ripe for replacement. I really don't know what to replace him with though, and Empoleon is still good in my opinion, but I can't deny that sometimes I wish I had something else. Perhaps it's just Tangrowth that needs a replacement and is dragging him down, since they have a tendency to be weak to the same things. I don't know, and that's where you come in.
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Chlorophyll
EV Spread: 248 HP, 172 Defense & 90 Special Defense
Stun Spore
Leech Seed
Knock Off
Power Whip
Role: Taking the physical hits, castrating Gyarados and missing with Stun Spore.
Comments: Probably the team member that I'm most looking to replace. The problem isn't that Tangrowth sucks, the problem is that Tangrowth generally has to sacrifice itself in one way or another while not accomplishing much, and has a lot of trouble switching in due to its abysmal special defense. With the amount of mixed sets that carry a special ice and/or fire move (Swampert, Salamence, Lucario, Infernape etc.), Tangrowth's impressive defense stat is quite commonly put to waste.
One of the notable exceptions to this is Gyarados, which Tangrowth takes pleasure in beating the crap out of. She also likes Outrage-locked Salamences for Stun Spore target practice. I don't really know what to replace Tangrowth with though. I want something that can paralyze, annoy and cripple my enemy without being that frail. Something that exists to make the enemy Pokemons existances a misery. Some people would probably suggest Togekiss but that would give me a giant BoltBeam weakness, and my team is already weak enough to BoltBeam (especially Starmie, as Gardevoir's Psychic hits for nothing on that cursed seacucumber, for a direct translation from Swedish) as it is.
Item: Light Clay
Nature: Calm
Ability: Trace
EV Spread: 236 HP, 56 Defense & 212 Special Defense
Light Screen
Reflect
Psychic
Wish
Role: Wish-passing, bitchslapping the faces of naughty sweepers looking to be up to no good and giving my team some much-needed survivability against their weaknesses.
Comments: Gardevoir is one of those Pokemons that you wish had 8 move slots, both of its natures and two item slots. Its usefulness in keeping other things alive and stopping sweeps cannot be exaggerated. Not much more to say, other than Trace being an awesome ability for use against things such as ScarfTran, AnyChoiceItemFlygon, Magnezone, Gyarados, Salamence and the list goes on. I don't intend to replace Gardevoir, mostly because I believe that she's a really underrated Pokemon that is actually very good on the right team, this being one of them. Double-screening and then wish-passing to Smeargle is something I like to do as well, when I get the chance.
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Own Tempo
EV Spread: 248 HP, 252 Speed & 10 Special Defense.
Spore
Substitute
Belly Drum
Baton Pass
Role: Belly-passing to Dragonite and putting something to sleep when doing so, or just putting something to sleep and then switching out when off-duty.
Comments:
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
EV Spread: 248 HP, 188 Defense & 74 Speed
Agility
Earthquake
Outrage
Fire Punch
Role: Receiving baton passes from Smeargle, cackling at physical attacks (or any attacks that aren't called Ice Beam or Blizzard if we're talking double-screen) and pulling a Nelson Muntz on Salamence after an Agility.
Comments: I opted for this kind of very bulky Dragonite for one reason: Smeargle. After an Agility and without Belly Drum, Dragonite can still function well as a cleaner who doesn't drop dread after a pair of random Stone Edges. Scizor doesn't scare my Dragonite, nor does much else that uses physical attacks to dispose of things. After a Belly Drum and Agility, something which isn't uncommon at all, Dragonite tends to end the game rather quickly and is nigh-invincible if also behind a substitue. Since Dragonite is my favorite Pokemon he's staying for sure.
It's 2 at night over here in Sweden, so I can't be bothered making a threat list and such right now. Please rate it and suggest.
A house rule which I have for all of my serious teams (this being one of them, for the Slowpokes of you) is to Use No Legendaries. Heatran, Celeby, Cresselia - anything of which there only exists one of - are no-goes as far as I'm concerned.
The plan of the team is to debilitate his most important Pokemon(s), catch him off-guard and then suddenly introduce Smeargle to the frontlines when my opponent is unprepared to deal with him. This means that shuffling around and scouting what my opponent has to deal with Smeargle is of utmost importance. Anything that is faster than Smeargle and won't get Spored and/or is a Phazer has a WANTED status, as far as my team is concerned.
________________________________________________________________
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Naughty
EV Spread: 252 Attack, 176 Speed & 82 Special Attack
U-Turn
Earthquake
Fire Blast
Outrage
Role: Scouting, cleaning and fainting things
Comments: Flygon is a pokemon which scales very well with one's prediction skill. She has the ability to hurt pretty much anything, much like MixMence except that Flygon has some notable advantages over it. These include STAB EQ, U-Turn, immunity to Electric and SR resistance. With these additional tools, Flygon takes on the task of being the one that generally does the fainting for my team. Her problems aren't many and nothing U-Turn can't handle. Overall, a solid team member which I don't intend to replace. A battered Flygon has saved the day with 1-2 last resort Outrages when everything else is fainted or fainting on more than one occasion. One thing which has continued to be very helpful is that non-scarfed Lucarios and Infernapes are both outsped and taken out by a single Earthquake.
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Brave
EV Spread: 236 HP, 172 Attack & 102 Defense
Swords Dance
Aqua Jet
Earthquake
Ice Beam
Role: Sweeping, revenge-killing and laughing at Bullet Punch
Comments: Empoleon is good at what he does, and that's making people underestimate him. I've swept teams with Empoleon alone, mostly thanks to Aqua Jet being such an excellent STAB priority move. Few things resist it that will not get obliterated by Empoleon's other two moves once he has a pair of Swords Dances under his belt, while he is more than bulky enough to take the return blows.
I can fool people into thinking that it's a special-based Empoleon by using Ice Beam and nothing else at first, if otherwise is not necessary of course. Empoleon is a lot more threatening than he looks and like Flygon, he can brag about being able to easily take out both Lucario and Infernape, provided that he isn't switching in on them. Unlike many other sweepers, being TW'ed isn't a problem at all for Empoleon, thanks to his STAB priority move. Still, Empoleon is sometimes rather lacklustre and together with Tangrowth, the two I consider most ripe for replacement. I really don't know what to replace him with though, and Empoleon is still good in my opinion, but I can't deny that sometimes I wish I had something else. Perhaps it's just Tangrowth that needs a replacement and is dragging him down, since they have a tendency to be weak to the same things. I don't know, and that's where you come in.
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
Ability: Chlorophyll
EV Spread: 248 HP, 172 Defense & 90 Special Defense
Stun Spore
Leech Seed
Knock Off
Power Whip
Role: Taking the physical hits, castrating Gyarados and missing with Stun Spore.
Comments: Probably the team member that I'm most looking to replace. The problem isn't that Tangrowth sucks, the problem is that Tangrowth generally has to sacrifice itself in one way or another while not accomplishing much, and has a lot of trouble switching in due to its abysmal special defense. With the amount of mixed sets that carry a special ice and/or fire move (Swampert, Salamence, Lucario, Infernape etc.), Tangrowth's impressive defense stat is quite commonly put to waste.
One of the notable exceptions to this is Gyarados, which Tangrowth takes pleasure in beating the crap out of. She also likes Outrage-locked Salamences for Stun Spore target practice. I don't really know what to replace Tangrowth with though. I want something that can paralyze, annoy and cripple my enemy without being that frail. Something that exists to make the enemy Pokemons existances a misery. Some people would probably suggest Togekiss but that would give me a giant BoltBeam weakness, and my team is already weak enough to BoltBeam (especially Starmie, as Gardevoir's Psychic hits for nothing on that cursed seacucumber, for a direct translation from Swedish) as it is.
Item: Light Clay
Nature: Calm
Ability: Trace
EV Spread: 236 HP, 56 Defense & 212 Special Defense
Light Screen
Reflect
Psychic
Wish
Role: Wish-passing, bitchslapping the faces of naughty sweepers looking to be up to no good and giving my team some much-needed survivability against their weaknesses.
Comments: Gardevoir is one of those Pokemons that you wish had 8 move slots, both of its natures and two item slots. Its usefulness in keeping other things alive and stopping sweeps cannot be exaggerated. Not much more to say, other than Trace being an awesome ability for use against things such as ScarfTran, AnyChoiceItemFlygon, Magnezone, Gyarados, Salamence and the list goes on. I don't intend to replace Gardevoir, mostly because I believe that she's a really underrated Pokemon that is actually very good on the right team, this being one of them. Double-screening and then wish-passing to Smeargle is something I like to do as well, when I get the chance.
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Own Tempo
EV Spread: 248 HP, 252 Speed & 10 Special Defense.
Spore
Substitute
Belly Drum
Baton Pass
Role: Belly-passing to Dragonite and putting something to sleep when doing so, or just putting something to sleep and then switching out when off-duty.
Comments:
That's a quote from one of my enemies, taken after Smeargle had gone about with his business. The capability to turn a game around is exactly what Smeargle provides. For a while it may look like I'm losing but a switch and four (or five, if I want/need to re-Spore) moves later sees me firmly back and in total power. The two nemesises of Smeargle include Phazers utilized by people smart enough not to switch in on Spore and anything that moves before Smeargle does while being able to KO or take it out of Belly Drum range. Still, Smeargle is a pokemon which is there to stay.
Item: Leftovers
Nature: Impish
EV Spread: 248 HP, 188 Defense & 74 Speed
Agility
Earthquake
Outrage
Fire Punch
Role: Receiving baton passes from Smeargle, cackling at physical attacks (or any attacks that aren't called Ice Beam or Blizzard if we're talking double-screen) and pulling a Nelson Muntz on Salamence after an Agility.
Comments: I opted for this kind of very bulky Dragonite for one reason: Smeargle. After an Agility and without Belly Drum, Dragonite can still function well as a cleaner who doesn't drop dread after a pair of random Stone Edges. Scizor doesn't scare my Dragonite, nor does much else that uses physical attacks to dispose of things. After a Belly Drum and Agility, something which isn't uncommon at all, Dragonite tends to end the game rather quickly and is nigh-invincible if also behind a substitue. Since Dragonite is my favorite Pokemon he's staying for sure.
It's 2 at night over here in Sweden, so I can't be bothered making a threat list and such right now. Please rate it and suggest.