First Strike
Hello Smogon and welcome to my second RU RMT. I started making this team when nidoqueen had just been unleashed on the tier and bulky offense was pretty much the definition of the tier at that time (and still is to some degree) so I decided I wanted to make a decent team in a field I had never explored very successfully, Heavy Offense.
The basic principle I made for this team was to make a really hard hitting monoteam (i.e, hitting from only one side of the spectrum) which still packed loads of ways to stop opposing sweepers to run through this team, namely, powerful priority and was based around an under-rated pokemon which I liked, in this case LO medicham. In a nut-shell, hit hard, and hit first, and that was how this team came to be born.
The team did pretty well on the ladder and I played with it a lot. I think it peaked around #5 once, and then again at #8, so yeah, it's not that amazing, don't get your hopes up :P. So obviously this team is far from perfect and while I am probably retiring it now, any feedback would be much appreciated.
On to the team!
Team-building process:
So I started with something nifty that I liked, LO medicham was something I had become very fond of and was very rarely seen, so I decided to base my team around it.
Next, I needed something that could take down ghost and psychic types, I looked immediately towards a dark type, originally drapion, but I found drapion wasn't able to keep up the offensive pressure that medicham set, so I looked at another option, absol.
Now I wanted something to complement these two and pretty much accomplish the same job working on the concept of "you can never have too much of a good thing". I'd always loved zangoose, and toxic boost zangoose looked like a very dangerous threat after seeing it in action during research week so I added our little scarred friend to the gang.
I realized that I needed some more "elemental" resistances and that a pivot would be very useful now seeing my team's frailty. I went with something I knew and loved, Rotom-C.
With fire being such a prominent attacking type in RU and my team actually not being all that fast, relying on priority to hit things like moltres and entei, I decided I'd need a good fire type counter. At first I was thinking kabutops, but all that needed was a stray HP grass from moltres or entei and I'd be thoroughly dead for the match so I went with the thing right after it in the pokedex, LO aerodactyl, who also gave me a source of hazards.
I was a little stumped on what to take on the last slot, but I figured that my team, being heavily physical, could use a will-o-wisp immunity, so I went with your standard cookie-cutter filler pokemon, entei, who gave even more priority.
The team was pretty good, but I thought that I was still relying on priority too much and needed a more dedicated cleaner, so I swapped out zangoose for a tauros after an interesting discussion on IRC and my team was complete.
A deeper look:
Medicham @ Life Orb
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Hi Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Bullet Punch
Why this Pokemon:
Medicham was my first pokemon chosen and this was the first set that was chosen, pretty much the only thing on this team that hasn't changed at all. If any of you know medicham, it's because he is renown as the most powerful physical attacker in the whole tier. Honestly, nothing can do what medicham does which is simply: smash the hell out of everything when ghost and bulky psychic types are removed/weakened. Medicham is also my only fighting resistance on this team so basically ensures that I'm not steamrolled by the hitmons, especially unburdenlee.
Moveset Explanation:
Now I know medicham has had quite a lot of criticism recently, but I really think that this set is excellent. With fake out and bullet punch coming off 480 attack, medicham leads excellently against almost everything that isn't a floating pixy or a ghost, with the combination nailing smeargle, aerodactyl, and accelgor, all common leads and famously pesky for offensive teams to deal with. Hi Jump Kick needs little explanation, it is the most powerful attack in the tier (not including rampardos and tied with archeops' head smash) and will demolish resists should they not be very very bulky. Zen headbutt is medicham's best choice for two move coverage and smacks ghost types for a lot generally. Unfortunately, psycho cut, I realised, was illegal with bullet punch when showdown was fixed up, so I can no longer 2hko OTR cofagrigus with SR up, but it's still medicham's best option.
Tauros (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 HP / 252 Atk
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Climb
- Rock Slide
- Fire Blast
Why this Pokemon:
Hell yeah tauros. Need I say more? Unfortunately, the RMT rules don't automatically recognise the awesomeness of tauros despite being the boss of a whole generation, but anyway, tauros' purpose is very simple on this team, hit hard, but more importantly, fast. 110 speed is very good for RU, only being outsped by sceptile, aero, and the speedy bugs. Tauros is generally my clean up guy and while he is probably the least strictly necessary member on this team, he can still do his job really well. Zangoose was originally here, and while tauros can't boast a toxic-boosted facade, his speed and survivability more than compensated for it.
Moveset Explanation:
This is a really standard moveset for tauros but yeah, rock climb+sheer force+STAB+LO boost+no recoil is godly, allowing me to hit really hard and stay healthy to take random priority attacks from hitmonchan or absol. Earthquake is handy for taking down qwilfish and other poison types and is tauros' best move against ghost types but is also a 100% accurate move which is important if I can't afford a miss. Rock slide gives me good coverage and is a very useful tool for threatening moltres. Fire blast, despite coming off 40 base special attack, still 2hkoes tangrowth and steelix, a valuable asset for any physical attacker.
Aerodactyl (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 80 HP / 176 Spd / 252 Atk
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
- Earthquake
Why this pokemon:
Life Orb aerodactyl is actually a very overlooked pokemon in our current metagame. Solid 2 move coverage and a myriad of utility options as well as the second best speed in the tier and just enough attack to grab those OHKOes makes it so dangerous and easily worthy of its spot on this team. Aerodactyl is my only source of hazards on this team and also my fire type check. The best offensive check to moltres and one of the best offensive checks to nidoqueen already makes him useful, but he also gives me a good counter to things like powerful normal types like afrobull and his cousin tauros as well as zangoose and, to a lesser degree, cincinno. His excellent speed also makes him a solid back up plan for a late-game sweep and is very often the man who finishes my matches.
Moveset Explanation:
Really pretty straight forward, edgequake is edgequake, and stealth rock is stealth rock (although I actually rarely have time to set them up). Taunt was my final choice as it just has more utility than roost which would be largely useless on a team whose matches only last about 12 turns anyway.
Rotom-Mow @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Why this pokemon:
Rotom-C is so good. SO good. Honestly this guy is easily the best pivot in the tier and his great natural bulk makes him a great soft check to a lot of things this team would otherwise struggle with like cofagrigus. Rotom-C is also my only check to kabutops and feraligatr who could otherwise cause problems. Rotom-C is pretty much my go-to guy if I need to make up ground in a match or need to take a random hit and is just excellent at getting something in safely to continue pummeling the opposition. It's also good on a mono-physical team to have something that can just threaten physical walls if you can't afford to go kamikaze with one of your sweepers to weaken it down for the rest of the team.
Moveset Explanation:
Your standard choice specs set... without the choice specs. I was originally running specs on this guy as I thought scarf was unnecessary and specs was the next best thing, but I found specs' power unnecessary on something that wasn't meant to break down walls but mainly pivot and it was too inflexible. So I changed to an expert belt set and it has been working very well. Loads of people will switch in their tangrowth or rotom-c after I've killed something with thunderbolt only to be hit by a hidden power ice next turn which, in the case of tangrowth, is very often game changing. Chesto rest might be worth a try though.
Entei @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 SAtk / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Why this pokemon:
Entei was originally just a cookie-cutter filler for the team, but he ended up playing a really crucial role to the team. A burn immunity is actually a lot more important than it sounds and it allows entei to come in on things like spiritomb and cofagrigus and put some serious hurt on them, making life much easier for tauros and medicham later on. Extreme speed also gave me a lot of utility, hitting things that were resistant to bullet punch like manetric for a lot of damage and wasn't prediction reliant like sucker punch. Honestly, I think everyone knows how good entei is, I don't think I need to say more.
Moveset explanation:
Again, a set everyone should know, I wanted life orb over choice band as I really didn't want things like omastar or kabutops setting up on me if I locked into the wrong move and life orb was just generally more flexible. Hidden power grass was my choice of filler and definitely the best option for LO taking down quag and the fossils without effort.
Absol (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 4 SpA / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Night Slash
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Fire Blast
Why this pokemon:
Absol, the legend. Honestly, it amazes me that even though players like molk have been using absol a lot and that it has been so highly praised here on smogon, absol is still used so little. IT HAS THE MOST POWERFUL PRIORITY ATTACK IN THE WHOLE GAME. What's not to love? But yeah, absol breaks things. Mostly ghosts and psychics, which is important for this team, and also just about everything that doesn't carry substitute, which is pretty nifty too. Absol's only real down-side is lack of a strong STAB which means that I still can't stop things like uxie and mespirit from setting up SR but his role on this team is still irreplacable.
Moveset Explanation:
The moveset that should be very well known by now in RU. Double STABs mean I'm not put in an awkward position with sucker punch and tangrowth+steel death is very handy in the form of fire blast. Superpower is just handy to have really and is nice for breaking down rock types.
Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Neither the commentary nor the team are perfect, but I would really appreciate any feedback from you guys. And hopefully this has inspired you to make a better team than this on showdown and top the ladder!
Medicham @ Life Orb
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Hi Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Bullet Punch
Why this Pokemon:
Medicham was my first pokemon chosen and this was the first set that was chosen, pretty much the only thing on this team that hasn't changed at all. If any of you know medicham, it's because he is renown as the most powerful physical attacker in the whole tier. Honestly, nothing can do what medicham does which is simply: smash the hell out of everything when ghost and bulky psychic types are removed/weakened. Medicham is also my only fighting resistance on this team so basically ensures that I'm not steamrolled by the hitmons, especially unburdenlee.
Moveset Explanation:
Now I know medicham has had quite a lot of criticism recently, but I really think that this set is excellent. With fake out and bullet punch coming off 480 attack, medicham leads excellently against almost everything that isn't a floating pixy or a ghost, with the combination nailing smeargle, aerodactyl, and accelgor, all common leads and famously pesky for offensive teams to deal with. Hi Jump Kick needs little explanation, it is the most powerful attack in the tier (not including rampardos and tied with archeops' head smash) and will demolish resists should they not be very very bulky. Zen headbutt is medicham's best choice for two move coverage and smacks ghost types for a lot generally. Unfortunately, psycho cut, I realised, was illegal with bullet punch when showdown was fixed up, so I can no longer 2hko OTR cofagrigus with SR up, but it's still medicham's best option.
Tauros (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 HP / 252 Atk
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Climb
- Rock Slide
- Fire Blast
Why this Pokemon:
Hell yeah tauros. Need I say more? Unfortunately, the RMT rules don't automatically recognise the awesomeness of tauros despite being the boss of a whole generation, but anyway, tauros' purpose is very simple on this team, hit hard, but more importantly, fast. 110 speed is very good for RU, only being outsped by sceptile, aero, and the speedy bugs. Tauros is generally my clean up guy and while he is probably the least strictly necessary member on this team, he can still do his job really well. Zangoose was originally here, and while tauros can't boast a toxic-boosted facade, his speed and survivability more than compensated for it.
Moveset Explanation:
This is a really standard moveset for tauros but yeah, rock climb+sheer force+STAB+LO boost+no recoil is godly, allowing me to hit really hard and stay healthy to take random priority attacks from hitmonchan or absol. Earthquake is handy for taking down qwilfish and other poison types and is tauros' best move against ghost types but is also a 100% accurate move which is important if I can't afford a miss. Rock slide gives me good coverage and is a very useful tool for threatening moltres. Fire blast, despite coming off 40 base special attack, still 2hkoes tangrowth and steelix, a valuable asset for any physical attacker.
Aerodactyl (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 80 HP / 176 Spd / 252 Atk
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
- Earthquake
Why this pokemon:
Life Orb aerodactyl is actually a very overlooked pokemon in our current metagame. Solid 2 move coverage and a myriad of utility options as well as the second best speed in the tier and just enough attack to grab those OHKOes makes it so dangerous and easily worthy of its spot on this team. Aerodactyl is my only source of hazards on this team and also my fire type check. The best offensive check to moltres and one of the best offensive checks to nidoqueen already makes him useful, but he also gives me a good counter to things like powerful normal types like afrobull and his cousin tauros as well as zangoose and, to a lesser degree, cincinno. His excellent speed also makes him a solid back up plan for a late-game sweep and is very often the man who finishes my matches.
Moveset Explanation:
Really pretty straight forward, edgequake is edgequake, and stealth rock is stealth rock (although I actually rarely have time to set them up). Taunt was my final choice as it just has more utility than roost which would be largely useless on a team whose matches only last about 12 turns anyway.
Rotom-Mow @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Why this pokemon:
Rotom-C is so good. SO good. Honestly this guy is easily the best pivot in the tier and his great natural bulk makes him a great soft check to a lot of things this team would otherwise struggle with like cofagrigus. Rotom-C is also my only check to kabutops and feraligatr who could otherwise cause problems. Rotom-C is pretty much my go-to guy if I need to make up ground in a match or need to take a random hit and is just excellent at getting something in safely to continue pummeling the opposition. It's also good on a mono-physical team to have something that can just threaten physical walls if you can't afford to go kamikaze with one of your sweepers to weaken it down for the rest of the team.
Moveset Explanation:
Your standard choice specs set... without the choice specs. I was originally running specs on this guy as I thought scarf was unnecessary and specs was the next best thing, but I found specs' power unnecessary on something that wasn't meant to break down walls but mainly pivot and it was too inflexible. So I changed to an expert belt set and it has been working very well. Loads of people will switch in their tangrowth or rotom-c after I've killed something with thunderbolt only to be hit by a hidden power ice next turn which, in the case of tangrowth, is very often game changing. Chesto rest might be worth a try though.
Entei @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 SAtk / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Why this pokemon:
Entei was originally just a cookie-cutter filler for the team, but he ended up playing a really crucial role to the team. A burn immunity is actually a lot more important than it sounds and it allows entei to come in on things like spiritomb and cofagrigus and put some serious hurt on them, making life much easier for tauros and medicham later on. Extreme speed also gave me a lot of utility, hitting things that were resistant to bullet punch like manetric for a lot of damage and wasn't prediction reliant like sucker punch. Honestly, I think everyone knows how good entei is, I don't think I need to say more.
Moveset explanation:
Again, a set everyone should know, I wanted life orb over choice band as I really didn't want things like omastar or kabutops setting up on me if I locked into the wrong move and life orb was just generally more flexible. Hidden power grass was my choice of filler and definitely the best option for LO taking down quag and the fossils without effort.
Absol (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 4 SpA / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Night Slash
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Fire Blast
Why this pokemon:
Absol, the legend. Honestly, it amazes me that even though players like molk have been using absol a lot and that it has been so highly praised here on smogon, absol is still used so little. IT HAS THE MOST POWERFUL PRIORITY ATTACK IN THE WHOLE GAME. What's not to love? But yeah, absol breaks things. Mostly ghosts and psychics, which is important for this team, and also just about everything that doesn't carry substitute, which is pretty nifty too. Absol's only real down-side is lack of a strong STAB which means that I still can't stop things like uxie and mespirit from setting up SR but his role on this team is still irreplacable.
Moveset Explanation:
The moveset that should be very well known by now in RU. Double STABs mean I'm not put in an awkward position with sucker punch and tangrowth+steel death is very handy in the form of fire blast. Superpower is just handy to have really and is nice for breaking down rock types.
Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Neither the commentary nor the team are perfect, but I would really appreciate any feedback from you guys. And hopefully this has inspired you to make a better team than this on showdown and top the ladder!
