First RMT - Mega Venusaur

[fecaprino]

Hey guys! (and girls, why not?)
I've been playing for a while, but mostly at showdown (not real 3DS online).
So, I've been experimenting with some pokémon I like trying to find a team that works well and, obviously has I pokés I really like.
I like playing offensive, without a lot of support moves (walls, baton pass, etc). At the same time, I really enjoy some walling, specially with Gliscor and Venusaur. I try to save Garchomp to mid-late game, so he cleans it for me.
I only named Empoleon (Ceaser, after the emperors). I could use some suggestions for nicknames =P
After dos and redos, I've come up with this:

On to the descriptions:

Greninja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Water Shuriken
- Taunt
- U-turn
- Spikes
I really like leading with him. It's a wonderful way of preventing baton passers because of Greninja speed. I know it sounds silly to throw his good movepool and SpAtk away and use Water Shuriken and physical investment, but it's been working fine for me, since WS has priority and can cause some good damage and provide typing. Setting spikes help my team (although it's not essential). I don't have to say how good u-turn is...

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
I've tried Earthquake over Leech Seed and didn't like it. Might try it over Synthesis. I use him as a physical "wall" and I'm overall very satisfied with him using my mega spot. It's damn annoying to take him down and I enjoy wearing team downs with his ability to stay long. I feel I miss EQ to deal with some steel types resistant to Posion and Giga Drain, but I'm not sure I can drop either recover move...

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Ice Fang
- Protect
I didn't really like Gliscor until I started using him. Now it might be one of my favorites. The set is kinda standard. I like running toxic, I feel that with so much bulk, Gliscor can really cripple offensive pokés with toxic + protect. And heal a lot of the damage taken. I'm also satisfied with his role. Even though it may seem silly to have to physically oriented "walls", Gliscor brings some punch with EQ and Ice fang and spreads the toxic. Also, I find it very useful against Dragons, flying and Ground.

Caesar (Empoleon) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SAtk / 252 SDef
- Scald
- Defog
- Flash Cannon
- Roar
So, he takes most special oriented hits for me. Roar has saved me against some buffing guys. I wasn't the biggest fan of defog, but I've grown into it. Scald really helps possibly causing burn, setting everything up for Garchomp later. Flash Cannon is something I've been trying lately and it's been working very well agains fairy/poison pokés. I miss having stealth rocks on the field though. I have spikes from Greninja, but not hitting flying types is hurting me.

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Outrage
- Swords Dance
As I said, he is supposed to come mid-late game. I try to set a Swords Dance o two (specially after faster threads are gone) and it's gg. Outrage is annoying to be stuck at at times, but I think it's worth it. Poison Jab has been valuable against fairies. I just realized I'm running 4SpAtk EVs without any reason. Hahaha

Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Ice Punch
- Knock Off
This was my last spot and I've been using Conkeldurr with AV to sponge some specially oriented hits and hit back hard. He is slow and that is really annoying at times. Knock off has been working well against what is or isn't week against it. I've thought about Iron fist over Guts, but the boost for status is tempting and useful. The other punches are standard, but I'm not completely sold on this guy yet.

Overall I feel I'm vulnerable to Fire and Flying. Dragons, Fairies and fighting types have not bothered me that much. I might consider dropping Conkeldurr, but I don't know for what. I'm open to critics and suggestions, but I might not use everything (specially if someone tells me to use a pokemon I don't like =D)

Thanks =)

 

[Prince Oberyn]

My first reaction to your team was: that Ice weakness though. It's dangerous to have 2 Pokes quad weak to a type, and there's your Venusaur who's also weak to Ice (although Thick Fat mitigates most of the damage) I think you should try to get another Ice resist on your team - once Empoleon is gone there's nothing stopping your opponent from spamming HP Ice/Ice Beam.

I don't really like your Greninja set. Water Shuriken is unreliable at best; if you still want physical priority then try Shadow Sneak. As for shutting down Baton Pass, well, Haze is definitely better suited to that task than Taunt. A Baton Pass with Scolipede only has to Protect on your first Taunt, get a Speed Boost, then BP into Espeon and then YOUR Greninja can't set up hazards. If you have Haze, you can prevent boosts from being accumulated without any risk to yourself. To be honest, the Special Greninja set with Life Orb is better, but if you like this Lead Greninja set that you've got going then stick with it. :)

I like your Venusaur set, however, I don't see the need for 3 moveslots to be related to healing. Leech Seed, Giga Drain AND Synthesis? Personally, I feel that any combination of just two of these moves would be fine; with your final moveslot you could run Sleep Powder. I think that would be more helpful for you. Personally, I like to run Leech Seed and Giga Drain - Leech Seed forces switches; Giga Drain for STAB. But whatever two moves you pick are up to you.

I like the rest of your team. If you don't like confusion on your Chomp from Outrage, give it a Lum Berry (that might be a good idea if you plan on setting up with SD then sweeping; Lum Berry will enable you to make the most of setting up.)

 

[fecaprino]

Thanks a lot for the comment =)

Yes, that Ice weakness. It's interesting that it's not bothering me more (I think it should)! I'm not sure what I can use to mitigate that. Thick fat definitely helps!

I know you don't like the Greninja set. Hehe. Water Shuriken is a bit unreliable, I agree. But I like it because I can change back to water type before getting attacked and I can also cause some good damage on things that aren't expecting it. I'll try Shadow sneak and see if I like it. As for taunt, it's not only for stopping baton pass. Greninja is pretty fast, so unless the opposing lead has prankster and use status, I go first and stop Rocks, Spikes, setting up, status and so on. I don't think haze would be as useful.

Like I said, I've been thinking about using EQ instead of Synthesis, because I also prefer Leech Seed + Giga Drain. Sleep Powder also sounds very interesting. I'll try it, although I still miss hitting some steel types (Lucario, Metagross, etc) harder with Venusaur.

Do you think using Lum Berry instead of Life Orb could keep it from KOing some pokés? I'm afraid of that... Also, Outrage is a little more annoying because I get stuck in it than of the confusion. Maybe I just need to get rid of fairies first...

Thanks a lot, I'll try those things and see how they work!

 

[Inflikted]

Hi fecaprino!

As you said, you have a weakness to Fire and Flying. Unfortunately, some of the users of these moves (such as Mega Pinsir and Mega Charizard X) are very prominent in the OU metagame and flat-out 2HKO your entire team.

Calcs

252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 184+ Def Gliscor: 186-220 (52.5 - 62.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Thick Fat Mega Venusaur: 180-212 (49.4 - 58.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 184+ Def Gliscor: 160-190 (45.1 - 53.6%) -- 39.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Poison Heal
252 Atk Mega Pinsir Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Empoleon: 278-328 (74.7 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

This means you have absolutely no safe switch-ins to these two even if they're unboosted. If they manage to grab a boost (which is not difficult, as Mega Pinsir sets up on Conkeldurr's face and scares out Mega Venusaur, for example) it's basically gg. In order to stop Pinsir, I suggest replacing Gliscor with a physically defensive Zapdos with defog.

Now let's discuss your Greninja set. If you run defog on your team, you will often find yourself in a situation where you're forced to defog away your own Spikes...and you may have spent 3 turns to set them up! Moreover, most defoggers are unaffected by spikes, so they will often switch in for free to do their job. This is why I suggest you drop Spikes and make Greninja a standard Life Orb special attacker.

Now you need hazard support. I suggest you replace Empoleon with Specially defensive Heatran. Heatran sets up Stealth Rock, which is less time-consuming than Spikes. It also does what Empoleon does now: phazing setup mons with Roar and spreading burns with Lava Plume. Alongside Zapdos and (especially) Venusaur, it forms a defensive core with nice sinergy that is quite hard to take down.

Zapdos

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 16 Spd / 248 HP / 244 Def
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Defog
- Roost

This is a good Mega Pinsir counter. Heat wave hits Bisharp who may try to come in on Defog to grab a Defiant boost, the speed evs allow you to outspeed neatral base 70 such as Bisharp. Sorry, I have a severe Bisharp addiction.

Heatran

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 220 SDef / 248 HP / 40 Spd
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Roar / Toxic
- Protect

Protect lets you gain extra leftovers recovery and scout for surprise coverage moves or choiced attackers. SR is mandatory, as is your main STAB lava plume. The choice between toxic and Roar is not easy but i would personally prefer Roar in this team as you have no phazers other than it. Toxic pairs well with protect, though. The speed evs let you outspeed max speed adamant Mawile.

Thanks for reading, hope I helped!

EDIT: I mentioned Mega Charizard X earlier but I did not suggest any way to deal with it...well, with stealth rock on the field, it is less threatening, but it's still a problem. I may suggest you replace Greninja with a bulkier water type such as Azumarill, but it's up to you.

 

[fecaprino]

Hey Inflikted!

All help and insight is very welcome, thank you for taking the time to help me.

Like I said, I do have that crazy Fire/Flying weakness... What I didn't want to do was change a third of my team because of it. Hey, I know I won't have the best team ever if I act like that, but that's not my goal. I was thinking about using Heatran to set Stealth Rocks and to to Empoleons role, might give it a try. I don't think I'll drop Gliscor though =P. I really like him and I think it's been working fine for me.

I've always had problems choosing my lead. I know: Jirachi, Ferrothorn, and so on. I really value using Pokémon I like instead of pokémon that are very good. I'm obviously not gonna use something that is very bad just because I like it, but you get the point ;)
So, Greninja as a lead was something I tried and liked. I've tried playing with him in the standard Life Orb set as well and he is good, obviously. But this lead set surprises people and has worked fine for me. If not this, then, what could I use to lead?

Thanks again!

 

[Prince Oberyn]

Do you think using Lum Berry instead of Life Orb could keep it from KOing some pokés? I'm afraid of that... Also, Outrage is a little more annoying because I get stuck in it than of the confusion. Maybe I just need to get rid of fairies first...

After a Sword's Dance, I really don't think have a Life Orb or not will help you too much.

If you don't like being stuck in confusion, and you still want to use a Life Orb, then you could switch out Sword's Dance for Dragon Claw. It's a common option amongst physical Dragon-types to run two Dragon STABS - you could have Outrage for when you want to deal as much damage as possible, or you could use Dragon Claw to dish out some damage without being locked into it.