Deoxys-D @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 70 Def / 186 Sp.Def
Nature: Bold
- Recover
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
This guy's designed to have pretty even defenses with a nod of 2 points to Sp.Def, so that the scarf-genesect everyone and their mother has right now doesn't get to boost u-turn with download. I'm not sure he's really the best for his purpose even with that said, because he regularly gets demolished by togeflinch as soon as a t-wave goes off-but if Gengar's not up to it, he's the next best answer I have to togekiss, Gastrodon/Swampert and Blissey. I'm also worried that Recover and Leftovers are redundant together.
Hydreigon @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Sp.Atk
Nature: Modest
- Dragon Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast
- Dark Pulse
This is as near as I come to a dedicated special wall. He complements Gengar and Deoxys-D by shrugging off the dark moves they get thrown on the switch-in, but I'm having trouble with the fact that a lot of enemies trying to throw dark pulse or night slash at those two have little trouble taking him apart with another move(Ice Punch Weavile particularly). Another thing I haven't gotten to check yet is whether download works on stats before or after boosts-if before, then he is also designed to have 2 more raw Def than Sp. Def, ensuring Download boosts Sp. A against him.
Gengar Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spe / 252 Sp.Atk
Nature: Timid
- Shadow Ball
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
Gengar is my answer to Gastrodon, Swampert and most fairies, as well as other hopefully Modest Gengars. Mawile shuts him down hard, which is a problem because Hydreigon really doesn't have a lot for Mawile either. A concern of mine about him is that he doesn't seem to outspeed Alakazam often enough, and when he can't he almost always gets OHKOd. I've had a lot of success switching him in to tank a U-turn that results in an enemy(Heatran, Gastrodon/Swampert) unprepared to take an OHKO coverage move.
Forretress Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp.Def
Nature: Bold
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch
- Spikes
This is my default lead, and my go-to when I need to get some momentum back against anything whose STABs don't threaten it. A lot of taunt leads and magic bounce espeon switch-ins seem surprised by volt turn when they're expecting to throw rocks at me/null my turn. I'm not a fan of how often heatran's lava plume puts a burn on him that essentially negates sturdy, though.
Dragonite@ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spe / 252 Sp.Atk
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Claw
- Extremespeed
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
Yes, this is my concession to FOTM gimmick. About half the time I could really go for a free switch-in and set up DDance on an attack that'd proc WP, rocks are up and Forretress is dead, nulling Multiscale. I'm sure some of the problem can be attributed to my lack of skill/adaptation to enemy teams. He is convenient to have against aegislash, whose two default sets both lack a strong answer to him without setup, on top of which his priority attack is a reliable execute early game when I don't want to take any last gasp damage from a mostly-dead enemy.
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter(Aerilate)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spe / 252 Atk
Nature: Adamant
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake
- Return
- Quick Attack
I recently replaced heraX for this guy as my mevo. He carries hyper cutter pre-mevo so that I can be a little more aggressive against intimidate wielders, but I'm not playing this as well as I could be. Not sure if Mold Breaker would be better for nailing frail sturdy users, or maybe Moxie for using QA to the same effect I described my dragonite's extremespeed? Free +1 Atk on a 1 for 1 trade with a sturdy lead could be more useful situationally. I'm uncertain with his moves, too. I definitely like EQ to make my team much more aegislash-/heatran-proof, but I don't know that I need it. Similarly, I'm stuck for chances to use X-Scissor, because most of the targets weak to it are faster than Pinsir and sometimes capable of KOing him-he's surprisingly bulky, though. My other problem is that even without hyper cutter/intimidate dueling considered, SR presence makes his mevo a huge risk. Once I mevo him, if he switches out with less than 50% health, he's basically tethered to Forretress for spinning.
So, what is glaringly wrong with my team?
To summarize some big concerns:
1. Is it bad to have an obvious mevo?
2. My entire team has trouble with these pokes unless I get very lucky(remember, all whining is tolerable if it's wrapped in a pun): Genescarf, Togeflinch, Skarmory(no annoying gimmicks, just unpleasantly durable). And Sniper Kingdra; does Pokemon Showdown have a faulty measure of Sp.Atk regarding crits, or does kingdra's crit draco meteor really OHKO Multiscale Dragonite at -4 Sp.Atk?
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 70 Def / 186 Sp.Def
Nature: Bold
- Recover
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
This guy's designed to have pretty even defenses with a nod of 2 points to Sp.Def, so that the scarf-genesect everyone and their mother has right now doesn't get to boost u-turn with download. I'm not sure he's really the best for his purpose even with that said, because he regularly gets demolished by togeflinch as soon as a t-wave goes off-but if Gengar's not up to it, he's the next best answer I have to togekiss, Gastrodon/Swampert and Blissey. I'm also worried that Recover and Leftovers are redundant together.
Hydreigon @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Sp.Atk
Nature: Modest
- Dragon Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast
- Dark Pulse
This is as near as I come to a dedicated special wall. He complements Gengar and Deoxys-D by shrugging off the dark moves they get thrown on the switch-in, but I'm having trouble with the fact that a lot of enemies trying to throw dark pulse or night slash at those two have little trouble taking him apart with another move(Ice Punch Weavile particularly). Another thing I haven't gotten to check yet is whether download works on stats before or after boosts-if before, then he is also designed to have 2 more raw Def than Sp. Def, ensuring Download boosts Sp. A against him.
Gengar Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spe / 252 Sp.Atk
Nature: Timid
- Shadow Ball
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
Gengar is my answer to Gastrodon, Swampert and most fairies, as well as other hopefully Modest Gengars. Mawile shuts him down hard, which is a problem because Hydreigon really doesn't have a lot for Mawile either. A concern of mine about him is that he doesn't seem to outspeed Alakazam often enough, and when he can't he almost always gets OHKOd. I've had a lot of success switching him in to tank a U-turn that results in an enemy(Heatran, Gastrodon/Swampert) unprepared to take an OHKO coverage move.
Forretress Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp.Def
Nature: Bold
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch
- Spikes
This is my default lead, and my go-to when I need to get some momentum back against anything whose STABs don't threaten it. A lot of taunt leads and magic bounce espeon switch-ins seem surprised by volt turn when they're expecting to throw rocks at me/null my turn. I'm not a fan of how often heatran's lava plume puts a burn on him that essentially negates sturdy, though.
Dragonite@ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spe / 252 Sp.Atk
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Claw
- Extremespeed
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
Yes, this is my concession to FOTM gimmick. About half the time I could really go for a free switch-in and set up DDance on an attack that'd proc WP, rocks are up and Forretress is dead, nulling Multiscale. I'm sure some of the problem can be attributed to my lack of skill/adaptation to enemy teams. He is convenient to have against aegislash, whose two default sets both lack a strong answer to him without setup, on top of which his priority attack is a reliable execute early game when I don't want to take any last gasp damage from a mostly-dead enemy.
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter(Aerilate)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spe / 252 Atk
Nature: Adamant
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake
- Return
- Quick Attack
I recently replaced heraX for this guy as my mevo. He carries hyper cutter pre-mevo so that I can be a little more aggressive against intimidate wielders, but I'm not playing this as well as I could be. Not sure if Mold Breaker would be better for nailing frail sturdy users, or maybe Moxie for using QA to the same effect I described my dragonite's extremespeed? Free +1 Atk on a 1 for 1 trade with a sturdy lead could be more useful situationally. I'm uncertain with his moves, too. I definitely like EQ to make my team much more aegislash-/heatran-proof, but I don't know that I need it. Similarly, I'm stuck for chances to use X-Scissor, because most of the targets weak to it are faster than Pinsir and sometimes capable of KOing him-he's surprisingly bulky, though. My other problem is that even without hyper cutter/intimidate dueling considered, SR presence makes his mevo a huge risk. Once I mevo him, if he switches out with less than 50% health, he's basically tethered to Forretress for spinning.
So, what is glaringly wrong with my team?
To summarize some big concerns:
1. Is it bad to have an obvious mevo?
2. My entire team has trouble with these pokes unless I get very lucky(remember, all whining is tolerable if it's wrapped in a pun): Genescarf, Togeflinch, Skarmory(no annoying gimmicks, just unpleasantly durable). And Sniper Kingdra; does Pokemon Showdown have a faulty measure of Sp.Atk regarding crits, or does kingdra's crit draco meteor really OHKO Multiscale Dragonite at -4 Sp.Atk?
