Promote SYNERGY
Hi guys, it's me again :). After not playing for a month, many of my teams failed until I hit the jackpot with this team.
The Team from a glance
Team Building Process:
Basically, I wanted a pokemon that could beat dragons that attempt to sweep by either using a choice item or by setting up. After considering a lot of pokemon, I found that Starmie would be brilliant in countering many of the current metagames' top threats like Garchomp, Dragonite, Terrakion etc.
Following that, I realised that many of my previous teams lacked type synergy, so I needed something that could take Grass and Dark types and also get rid of them as well. Heatran came to mind, as he covers Starmie's Dark and Grass weaknesses while Starmie can get rid of Ground, Rock and Fighting types for Heatran.
After playing a couple of games with these guys on a team, a major problem with sandstorm teams soon became apparently, particularly Tyranitar, who could take a SE hit from both of these guys and then proceed to OHKO with the appropriate move. Therefore, a Fighting type would be necessary; not wanting to be mainstream, I decided to go for Machamp, simply because most teams are built to counter Conkeldurr, who doesn't have access to 100% accurate Dynamic Punch.
I needed a powerful dragon to act as a wallbreaker and also as bait that doesn't take that much damage from entry hazards; enter Latias.
As you all may know, priority is pretty much mandatory on every team that doesn't want to get raped by choice scarfed Garchomp and the like. Enter Scizor, who is very bulky, plus sports an extremely powerful Bullet Punch for the landshark to eat and also acts as bait for Fire type moves which allow Heatran to switch in.
After playing with these 5 Pokemon for a while, I found that many steel types could completely destroy this team if Heatran was dead, therefore it became apparent that a Fire Fighting type would be needed to fulfill the same role as Heatran. Enter Infernape, who has excellent wallbreaking capabilities and also has a priority move as well.
Explanation:
Starmie @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spd
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
This is the pokemon that the team revolves around, and boy does this thing do well. The EVs are self explanatory but the Choice Scarf is for wrecking set up sweepers like a boss. The EVs provided guarantee a OHKO on Garchomp (providing that he doesn't have Yache Berry) and also outspeeds and KOs Scarf Latios and Latias after Stealth Rock damage and a Bullet Punch. Trick lets me cripple walls such as Blissey, who might be part of a defensive core that my team has trouble with.
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Nature: Modest (+SpAtk, -Atk)
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spd
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse
Heatran is my answer to a myriad of problems. Air Balloon lets him force out pokemon locked into Earthquake or a move that he resists while Heatran sets up Stealth Rock. Afterwards, he can proceed to cripple at least of the opponent's Pokemon, as Heatran with an Air Balloon is ridiculously hard to take out without a strong Fighting move.
Machamp @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpAtk)
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 128 HP, 252 Atk, 128 Spd
- Substitute
- Payback
- Stone Edge
- Dynamic Punch
Machamp is a boss with STAB 100% Dynamic Punch, which often wins me matches due to confusion hax. The EVs let me outspeed minimum speed Scizor, Tyranitar, and Skarmory and proceed to smack them with Dynamic Punch. Substitute is used to give me a little bit of leverage on what I do if I manage to set one up; for example, if Tyranitar switched out to Gliscor and I get a substitute up, I could either Dynamic Punch it or switch out and as an added bonus, it blocks status which would cripple this guy. This guy is also my answer to Jellicent, who is very annoying.
Latias @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Spd
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Refresh
- Dragon Pulse
Latias is the dragon of the team (obviously :D) and does a very good in fulfilling that role. The EVs are to maximise her physical bulk, which allows her to live two X-scissors from Jolly Excadrill. Calm Mind increases the power of Dragon Pulse, an excellent move as it provides near perfect coverage and allows her to sponge Special attacks as well. Refresh is there to make sure that she doesn't get crippled by status.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpAtk)
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 SpD
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Scizor is my first priority user. He boasts an amazing 591 Attack with a very powerful Bullet Punch, which is boosted by STAB AND Technician. Seriously, what were Game Freak thinking when they made this badass? Bullet Punch allows me to revenge kill well while U-turn rapes Reuniclus, who would of been an annoyance to the team. Scizor also allows me to trap Latios, which is a big plus.
Infernape @ Life Orb
Nature: Naive (+Spd, - SpDef)
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 SpAtk, 252 Spd
- Flare Blitz
- Mach Punch
- Overheat
- Close Combat
My second priority user and my wallbreaker. Infernape is an underrated threat who will rip apart teams who are not prepared for him. Overheat on the switch to Gliscor will end up doing well over half of it's HP and would then proceed to be raped by Flare Blitz like a boss. I normally start with this guy as a lead as many expect him to be the Fake Out + Stealth Rock variant and taunt but then proceed to be at least 2HKO'd (in this respect, he checks Lead Thundurus, who is always a pain to deal with)
SYNERGY:
Starmie:
Grass attacks go to Scizor, Latias, Heatran, Infernape
Dark attacks go to Scizor, Heatran, Infernape, and Machamp
Electric attacks go to Latias
Bug attacks go to Scizor, Heatran, Infernape and Machamp
Ferrothorn who walls Starmie is dealt with by Heatran, Infernape and Machamp
Tyranitar is taken care of by Infernape and Machamp
Heatran
Ground attacks go to Latias and to a lesser extent Scizor
Water attacks go to Latias and Starmie
Fighting attacks go to Latias and Starmie
Garchomp and Excadrill are checked by Starmie (if it isn't carrying X-scissor) and Scizor
Machamp
Psychic attacks go to Scizor, Heatran, Starmie and Latias
Flying attacks go to Heatran
Latias
Dragon attacks go to Scizor and Heatran
Dark attacks go to Scizor, Heatran, Infernape and Machamp
Bug attacks go to Infernape, Scizor, Heatran and Machamp
Ice attacks go to Infernape, Scizor and Heatran
Scizor
Fire attacks go to Heatran, Latias and Starmie
Gets rid of Psychic, Dark and Rock types
Infernape
Water attacks go to Latias and Starmie
Ground attacks go to Latias
Flying attacks go to Heatran
*THREATLIST COMING SOON*
I hope this was an enjoyable read and any advice would be welcome, especially on who to deal with Drizzle teams (ScarfToed) and Pokemon like Thundurus who would dent this team if it doesn't taunt Infernape. Thanks for your time.
Hi guys, it's me again :). After not playing for a month, many of my teams failed until I hit the jackpot with this team.
The Team from a glance
Team Building Process:
Basically, I wanted a pokemon that could beat dragons that attempt to sweep by either using a choice item or by setting up. After considering a lot of pokemon, I found that Starmie would be brilliant in countering many of the current metagames' top threats like Garchomp, Dragonite, Terrakion etc.
Following that, I realised that many of my previous teams lacked type synergy, so I needed something that could take Grass and Dark types and also get rid of them as well. Heatran came to mind, as he covers Starmie's Dark and Grass weaknesses while Starmie can get rid of Ground, Rock and Fighting types for Heatran.
After playing a couple of games with these guys on a team, a major problem with sandstorm teams soon became apparently, particularly Tyranitar, who could take a SE hit from both of these guys and then proceed to OHKO with the appropriate move. Therefore, a Fighting type would be necessary; not wanting to be mainstream, I decided to go for Machamp, simply because most teams are built to counter Conkeldurr, who doesn't have access to 100% accurate Dynamic Punch.
I needed a powerful dragon to act as a wallbreaker and also as bait that doesn't take that much damage from entry hazards; enter Latias.
As you all may know, priority is pretty much mandatory on every team that doesn't want to get raped by choice scarfed Garchomp and the like. Enter Scizor, who is very bulky, plus sports an extremely powerful Bullet Punch for the landshark to eat and also acts as bait for Fire type moves which allow Heatran to switch in.
After playing with these 5 Pokemon for a while, I found that many steel types could completely destroy this team if Heatran was dead, therefore it became apparent that a Fire Fighting type would be needed to fulfill the same role as Heatran. Enter Infernape, who has excellent wallbreaking capabilities and also has a priority move as well.
Explanation:
Starmie @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spd
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
This is the pokemon that the team revolves around, and boy does this thing do well. The EVs are self explanatory but the Choice Scarf is for wrecking set up sweepers like a boss. The EVs provided guarantee a OHKO on Garchomp (providing that he doesn't have Yache Berry) and also outspeeds and KOs Scarf Latios and Latias after Stealth Rock damage and a Bullet Punch. Trick lets me cripple walls such as Blissey, who might be part of a defensive core that my team has trouble with.
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Nature: Modest (+SpAtk, -Atk)
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpAtk, 252 Spd
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse
Heatran is my answer to a myriad of problems. Air Balloon lets him force out pokemon locked into Earthquake or a move that he resists while Heatran sets up Stealth Rock. Afterwards, he can proceed to cripple at least of the opponent's Pokemon, as Heatran with an Air Balloon is ridiculously hard to take out without a strong Fighting move.
Machamp @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpAtk)
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 128 HP, 252 Atk, 128 Spd
- Substitute
- Payback
- Stone Edge
- Dynamic Punch
Machamp is a boss with STAB 100% Dynamic Punch, which often wins me matches due to confusion hax. The EVs let me outspeed minimum speed Scizor, Tyranitar, and Skarmory and proceed to smack them with Dynamic Punch. Substitute is used to give me a little bit of leverage on what I do if I manage to set one up; for example, if Tyranitar switched out to Gliscor and I get a substitute up, I could either Dynamic Punch it or switch out and as an added bonus, it blocks status which would cripple this guy. This guy is also my answer to Jellicent, who is very annoying.
Latias @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Spd
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Refresh
- Dragon Pulse
Latias is the dragon of the team (obviously :D) and does a very good in fulfilling that role. The EVs are to maximise her physical bulk, which allows her to live two X-scissors from Jolly Excadrill. Calm Mind increases the power of Dragon Pulse, an excellent move as it provides near perfect coverage and allows her to sponge Special attacks as well. Refresh is there to make sure that she doesn't get crippled by status.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpAtk)
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 SpD
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Scizor is my first priority user. He boasts an amazing 591 Attack with a very powerful Bullet Punch, which is boosted by STAB AND Technician. Seriously, what were Game Freak thinking when they made this badass? Bullet Punch allows me to revenge kill well while U-turn rapes Reuniclus, who would of been an annoyance to the team. Scizor also allows me to trap Latios, which is a big plus.
Infernape @ Life Orb
Nature: Naive (+Spd, - SpDef)
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 SpAtk, 252 Spd
- Flare Blitz
- Mach Punch
- Overheat
- Close Combat
My second priority user and my wallbreaker. Infernape is an underrated threat who will rip apart teams who are not prepared for him. Overheat on the switch to Gliscor will end up doing well over half of it's HP and would then proceed to be raped by Flare Blitz like a boss. I normally start with this guy as a lead as many expect him to be the Fake Out + Stealth Rock variant and taunt but then proceed to be at least 2HKO'd (in this respect, he checks Lead Thundurus, who is always a pain to deal with)
SYNERGY:
Starmie:
Grass attacks go to Scizor, Latias, Heatran, Infernape
Dark attacks go to Scizor, Heatran, Infernape, and Machamp
Electric attacks go to Latias
Bug attacks go to Scizor, Heatran, Infernape and Machamp
Ferrothorn who walls Starmie is dealt with by Heatran, Infernape and Machamp
Tyranitar is taken care of by Infernape and Machamp
Heatran
Ground attacks go to Latias and to a lesser extent Scizor
Water attacks go to Latias and Starmie
Fighting attacks go to Latias and Starmie
Garchomp and Excadrill are checked by Starmie (if it isn't carrying X-scissor) and Scizor
Machamp
Psychic attacks go to Scizor, Heatran, Starmie and Latias
Flying attacks go to Heatran
Latias
Dragon attacks go to Scizor and Heatran
Dark attacks go to Scizor, Heatran, Infernape and Machamp
Bug attacks go to Infernape, Scizor, Heatran and Machamp
Ice attacks go to Infernape, Scizor and Heatran
Scizor
Fire attacks go to Heatran, Latias and Starmie
Gets rid of Psychic, Dark and Rock types
Infernape
Water attacks go to Latias and Starmie
Ground attacks go to Latias
Flying attacks go to Heatran
*THREATLIST COMING SOON*
I hope this was an enjoyable read and any advice would be welcome, especially on who to deal with Drizzle teams (ScarfToed) and Pokemon like Thundurus who would dent this team if it doesn't taunt Infernape. Thanks for your time.
