FWG + SkarmBliss = Balanced Offensive Team

[amplifierworship]

Hey guys, I posted my first team a week or two ago. The team was based around Mega-Charizard Y, but didn't work as well as I liked. I was at 1200 ELO on Showdown and ended up losing 4 or 5 matches in a row and went back down to about 1050 and said to myself "fuck it, this isn't working". So, here I am, with a revamped Charizard Y team.


Building Process:

Starting with this guy. Why? Because he's a fucking beast, that's why. As if the 159 base SpAtk wasn't enough, he can also single-turn Solar Beam because of Drought. That kind of wall-breaking/sweeping potential is ungodly, and I want to exploit it as far as possible.

Pair him with Excadrill. Why? Because Excadrill is arguably the best Rapid Spinner in the game and Stealth Rocks KILLS my Zard like nothing else. Now I have a powerful physical attacker as well.

Throw in SkarmBliss for an amazing defensive core.

Round out the FWG core with Breloom and Slowbro. In Breloom, I have a powerful physical revenge killer, in Slowbro, I have a special tank with mixed bulk.


Movelist/EV spread:


Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Tailwind

Focus Miss because Heatran sux. I hate relying on a move that misses 30% of the time, but eh, what can you do? I went with Tailwind instead of Roost because it'll give my team a ridiculous speed boost should ever I get the chance to set-up; without the EV investment in HP, I didn't think Roost was really justified. Besides, it's Charizard; he either sweeps or he dies. Roost is for Pokes that stall.​

Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance

Bulky offensive Excadrill. Rapid Spin should be self-evident. I went with Iron Head and Earthquake because they're both STAB and they get good coverage. SD is there if ever I get a free turn to setup. However, I'm iffy about his EV spread and use of Leftovers, anyone have any better ideas?​

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic

Standard Blissey. I went with Soft-Boiled instead of Wish because I didn't like the momentum I sometimes lost trying to overplay the cleric role, and it was ultimately redundent anyway because Skarm has Roost and Slowbro has Regenerator. I went with Toxic over Thunderwave because my team is not only capable of maintaining pressure and momentum, but also stalling when need be, and so the extra damage seemed more complimentary than forcing a switch/winning a free turn here and there. ​

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost

Again, not much to say. Standard Skarm set. Whirlwind is great for phazing and compliments the hazards extremely well. The only problem here is that he lacks an offensive move. I'm considering putting Rocks on Excadrill in order to leave room for Counter or something, but I dunno how that'll work on my decidedly aggressive Excadrill. Any thoughts here?​

Breloom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Superpower
- Spore

Scarf'd physical attacker. Revenge killer. Mach Punch is for priority, Superpower is for when I know I'm faster than the other guy and absolutely need to kill him. Bullet Seed (and Mach Punch, for that matter) gets boosted by Technician and is STAB. Sometimes it only hits twice, which sucks, but statistically I think this is better than Seed Bomb. Spore is there because putting opposing Pokemon to sleep is pretty cool.​

Slowbro @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Ice Beam

AV Slowbro. Good mixed tank, good move coverage. Regenerator is amazing. Slowbro makes for a great pivot because of his natural physical bulk and SpAtk, paired with the AV to boost up his SpDef. Psychic/Psychock gives me the option to hit hard against Pokemon who don't resist Psychic type moves and are specialized in only one kind of Defense stat.
​

Gameplan:

I generally start off with Skarmory so I can get hazards down early. However, if I feel confident in predicting how my opponent is going to open, sometimes I'll open with an offensive Pokemon in order to gain control of the game early-on. The team is primarily an offensive one, so I want to dictate the pace of the game and maintain control as much as possible in order to punch holes into the opposing team. But I can also stall/kill momentum when I need to; SkarmBliss does a hell of a job tanking just about everything in the metagame, and Slowbro is there as a pivot. He tanks hits, hits back hard, and when he switches out he gains 1/3rd of his HP back.

Checks:

As far as I've been able to playtest the team, it seems balanced enough to take on pretty much anything, although I've had minor issues with Mega-Alakazam (he's faster than anything on my team except for Breloom (who is 2X weak to Psychic), he can learn Shadow Ball with is 2X effective against Slowbro and he's powerful enough to break through Blissey). I can also imagine Sableye being troublesome because it sucks big time when Skarmory gets Taunt'd and/or Will-o-Wisp'd, and he also spinblocks which is generally pretty bad for me.


What do you guys think?

 

[jpw234]

I would suggest Fire Blast over either Psychic or Psyshock on Slowbro, to hit stuff like Ferrothorn, Skarmory and Mawile.

Your Skarmory is overworked. You don't have room for Stealth Rock and Spikes. Take out Spikes and replace it with Defog, since Stealth Rock really cuts the effectiveness of Char-Y.

Tailwind is kind of strange on Char since most of your team is defensive and isn't benefiting from the boost. I'd go with Roost.

 

[EyeDentist]

I think your team is a very simple concept. Sweep with Charizard-Y. There's a few strange gimmick-y things you're doing, though, that I'd like to point out.

First of all, let's look only at what Pokemon you're using.

Charizard and a spinner are required, and you have a defensive core and then it gets strange. My first suggestion would be to replace Excadrill with Starmie. I suggest this because Excadrill, while it does cover the other side of the attacking spectrum, does not really need to be there. Earthquake and Iron Head doesn't seem to help much against what Charizard can't kill already (Except bulky fairies who won't stay in, anyway).

Starmie Set

Starmie Leftovers
Ability: Analytic / Natural Care
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock

Now, I've pushed some things around already, you have two water/psychic types. Slowbro doesn't serve much of a purpose on your team. You have Blissey already, an assault vest Slowbro won't be taking the special hits for you, and it won't be walling much or hurting much. What you will need instead is something to take physical hits and deal physical hits, which is why I suggest to replace Slowbro with Landorus-T. Landorus-T is one of the most powerful Pokemon in OU, by far. Intimidate allows it to walk in on physical attackers, and it can deal a huge amount of damage by itself.

Landorus-T Set

Landorus-T @ Assault Vest / Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-Turn
- Knock-Off

As far as choosing an item goes, it's up to you. Choice Band packs a punch, but I find Landorus being used to sweep often and tank often, which is why I like the Assault Vest. Try both and see what works.

Just a few more ideas from here. Skarmory is not very good in my opinion. It does wall physical attackers alright, but without any attacks, all it can do is set up and push stuff around. Too many teams carry defog these days, so I find it not very valuable to a team. To help you out against pesky psychics and ghosts, I recommend using Scizor instead of Skarmory. Scizor has priority, pursuit, and even defog, if you want to get double hazard prevention on your team (which I do not think is a weird thing to do!).

Scizor Set

Scizor Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Bug Bite / Superpower
- Defog / Roost / Swords Dance

Bug Bite is very strong, in fact, it's stronger than Superpower, and it doesn't cripple you after. The utility of it, though, is rarely seen, and Superpower has a better offensive type. As far as Roost vs. Defog goes, pick whatever you think you'd use more. Scizor can function as a wall some times (especially in mega form), making Roost useful, but Defog helps if Starmie can't spin. Swords Dance is another option, and it makes this offensive threat even scarier. You decide what you need!

Now I think the Pokemon in your team function alright. A few tweaks before I wrap it up:

A few things to try with Blissey:
~ Give Blissey Thunder Wave over Toxic and Wish over Softboiled
~ Give Blissey Stealth Rock instead of Aromatherapy

A few things to try with Breloom:
~ Give Breloom a Toxic Orb and put Substitute in place of Superpower
~ Give Breloom a Choice Band and replace Spore with Rock Tomb
~ Give Breloom a Toxic Orb, Leech Seech, and Substitute and keep Spore and Mach Punch

Good luck with your team! I hope I haven't changed too much, for I have made sure to focus on keeping the main idea alive (sweeping with Charizard-Y). I didn't want to turn your team into a sun-team, because it didn't seem like you were going for that, but it's always an option, and a rather effective one.

 

[amplifierworship]

Thanks for the suggestions! Hmmm, as a matter of fact, when I was building this team, I was considering Starmie over Excadrill, and I definitely agree that change could work, but I hate the genies and I refuse to use them (I'm one of those people who's willing to compromise team efficiency if it means I get to use the Pokemon I like). I also think SkarmBliss is too powerful of a duo not to use. Assuming I went with Zard Y/Starmie/Skarm/Bliss, how should I round out the team? I think if Bliss runs Stealth Rock, then Skarm can use Counter (making it less useless offensively). Would Scizor still be an option? What about a physically bulky Salamence or Dragonite?

 

[EyeDentist]

Well, if you're using Charizard-Y, Starmie, Skarmory, and Blissey, without changing any of that, then the team might look a bit different.

First of all, a good grass-type tank would be in order here to get that FWG core. Breloom is great, you could try one of the ideas I listed up in my previous post. My favorite grass type, though, by far, is Tangrowth. If you were to use Tangrowth, though, Skarmory would be a bit obsolete.

The last slot would be best as a revenge killer or something. Greninja is a great revenge killer, but it won't outspeed most of the scarfers out there, so I would recommend Aegislash. It's not really a revenge killer, but it can fit the role of it, for it has Shadow Sneak, Swords Dance, and even King's Shield, which allows it to tank a hit if it needs to. It also functions as a spin-blocker, which is very necessary for a Skarmory user. I recommend giving it an Air Balloon, because Donphan is out there (for some unknown reason, I think it's a cult or something) and without EQ, it can't stop Aegislash.

I hope this works out for you! I seriously don't think Skarmory is worth using, man, but if you really want to, I can't stop you, haha.

 

[amplifierworship]

Here's a set I just came up with on the spot, I made it before I saw your post, lol:

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Focus Blast
- Roost

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Psychic
- Surf
- Ice Beam

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature
- Counter
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic

Scizor @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower

Trevenant @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Leech Seed
- Horn Leech
- Shadow Claw

In bold is all the differences from my previous set. What do you think?

 

[Arcanine is Regal]

Ok well I am one of those people that likes to change as few thigns as possible, so I will make my suggestions from your original post, if you have already made permanent changes let me know....anyway

Charizard y should not really be used a sweeper in the sense that he sets up a tailwind and sweeps, he usually just ends up sweeping. but I think that you can use earthquake over focus blast and i personally think roost>tailwind but thats up to you. Here is a calc on common heatrans

4- Atk Mega Charizard Y Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 256-304 (66.3 - 78.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 210-248 (54.4 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

If you plan on keeping excadrill you need to change his set alot lol, if you want to setup a swords dance you need to be able to outspeed things so all of your hp evs should go to speed. And honestly he doesnt really need the swords dance, but I would just like to say that I support the switch from exca to starmie.

Your skarm set is taunt bait, maybe put brave bird over spikes, because spike stacking is a waste of time with how easy a defogger can switch into skarm(especially yours)

Breloom doesnt need to be scarfed, use a focus sash or life orb or toxic orb, the moveset is good tho just no sash.

Here's a set I just came up with on the spot, I made it before I saw your post, lol:


In bold is all the differences from my previous set. What do you think?

Yeah dont use that new skarm set if you really feel like you need counter get rid of spikes. but skarm is going to be taking special hits nobody wants to use physical moves on him....ive seen counter work but I realllly recommend brave bird>counter Stealth rocks> spikes

And dont use those scizor or trevenant sets...if you want a good AV user use conkeldurr he is way better than scizor, unless you want to band scizor

And for trev his whole thing is he has harvest so imo use harvest or lose trev.


ANYWAY i am really confused what your current team is so I tried to cover as much as i could Id love to be more help just let me know what your status is.

 

[amplifierworship]

Okay, thanks for the imput, here's a revised set (ignore the old one, lol):

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Earthquake
- Roost

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Psychic
- Surf
- Ice Beam

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Whirlwind
- Roost

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower

Trevenant @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
- Wood Hammer
- Shadow Claw

The playtesting has gone well so far. Skarm is still a tank but less useless offensively and less susceptible to taunt. Defog (and Rapid Spin on Starmie) helps keep my Zard away from rocks. Scizor has amazing move coverage and hits hard, and with Pursuit/Bullet Punch he makes a great revenge killer. Trevenant is a pretty neat support for my team. He can switch in on incoming fighting moves, spinblock, stall with Will-o-Wisp/Protect, Harvest works great in conjunction with Zard's Drought and his 110 base Atk combined with strong STAB moves means he can shell out decent damage against Water, Rock, Ground, and Psychic types.