After more than five years of on/off competitive battling, I finally decided to have a serious attempt at making a team. Unfortunately, it still has a ton of flaws, but that's where you guys come in.
The team at a glance:
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/6 Atk/252 Def
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
Swampert may not seem that flashy, but he's a reliable lead. He gets in his SRs without much trouble and has no real threats but Roserade, which unfortunately leads into a free Poison Spikes. STAB Earthquake deals with a lot of the other leads. Also, it's probably not the way he's supposed to be used, but I use him to take hits too. All in all, this is pretty generic, but he does what he's supposed to.
Sonichu (Lucario) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 26 HP/232 Spd/232 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Calm Mind
Lucario is definitely the star of my team. While CM is very situational, if properly set up, it can really sweep like nothing else on my team can. Despite the great type coverage, he's still easily walled by bulky waters. Also, there's always the problem of finding a good time to switch in, especially with the prevalence of Flamethrower/HP-Fire and Earthquake.
As a bonus, this Lucario also is very effective against toxic Blisseys, and special Lucario is rather unexpected, especially against dragon types (that's so gimmicky, isn't it?).
If there's a Pokemon I'd like to keep on the team, Lucario is definitely it.
Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Will-o-wisp
So Swampert has a problem with grass-types and Lucario with water-types, so that's where Rotom comes in. Great at revenge killing. And like every other Rotom, he's a great spin blocker. Will-o-wisp is pretty useful, but a lot less when he has a Choice item, so I think I need to switch that move out.
Clyde Cash (Scizor) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 200 HP/252 Atk/56 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Swords Dance
- Roost
Bulky Scizor. When you're in doubt about what you should pick, why not use the thing everyone else is using? This is also a very generic pokemon, but there's a reason for his popularity. All of that HP allows him to survive hits, but I don't use Roost as much as I should to make use of it. He's very versatile, but I wouldn't mind seeing him switched out for something more useful.
Julie (Latias) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Recover
Yet another dragon counter. I could probably use her more effectively if I remember that she can outspeed a ton of Pokemon, especially Gyarados. However, there's always a problem against accidentally switching into Outrage or Draco Meteor. Recover is a good move, but only if I'm defending against the right Pokemon, so I might need to replace it, but Recover makes great use of its bulk too. Useful against countering the fire Pokemon that are super-effective against Lucario and Scizor.
Also, a half-hearted attempt to counter Gengar.
Barbara (Snorlax) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
Sort of my sixth wheel. I chose this Pokemon out of trying to maintain a good balance of type weaknesses on my team. She's for switching into special attacks, but I'm not sure how effective she is at that. However, this is notably my only real counter against Gengar. I originally had this Pokemon as Curselax, but that had really bad type coverage.
--
Well, that's about it. I hope the descriptions are ok, because it would be such a shame to have this thread locked after all the time I spent oun it.
The team at a glance:
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/6 Atk/252 Def
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
Swampert may not seem that flashy, but he's a reliable lead. He gets in his SRs without much trouble and has no real threats but Roserade, which unfortunately leads into a free Poison Spikes. STAB Earthquake deals with a lot of the other leads. Also, it's probably not the way he's supposed to be used, but I use him to take hits too. All in all, this is pretty generic, but he does what he's supposed to.
Sonichu (Lucario) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 26 HP/232 Spd/232 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Calm Mind
Lucario is definitely the star of my team. While CM is very situational, if properly set up, it can really sweep like nothing else on my team can. Despite the great type coverage, he's still easily walled by bulky waters. Also, there's always the problem of finding a good time to switch in, especially with the prevalence of Flamethrower/HP-Fire and Earthquake.
As a bonus, this Lucario also is very effective against toxic Blisseys, and special Lucario is rather unexpected, especially against dragon types (that's so gimmicky, isn't it?).
If there's a Pokemon I'd like to keep on the team, Lucario is definitely it.
Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Will-o-wisp
So Swampert has a problem with grass-types and Lucario with water-types, so that's where Rotom comes in. Great at revenge killing. And like every other Rotom, he's a great spin blocker. Will-o-wisp is pretty useful, but a lot less when he has a Choice item, so I think I need to switch that move out.
Clyde Cash (Scizor) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 200 HP/252 Atk/56 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Swords Dance
- Roost
Bulky Scizor. When you're in doubt about what you should pick, why not use the thing everyone else is using? This is also a very generic pokemon, but there's a reason for his popularity. All of that HP allows him to survive hits, but I don't use Roost as much as I should to make use of it. He's very versatile, but I wouldn't mind seeing him switched out for something more useful.
Julie (Latias) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Recover
Yet another dragon counter. I could probably use her more effectively if I remember that she can outspeed a ton of Pokemon, especially Gyarados. However, there's always a problem against accidentally switching into Outrage or Draco Meteor. Recover is a good move, but only if I'm defending against the right Pokemon, so I might need to replace it, but Recover makes great use of its bulk too. Useful against countering the fire Pokemon that are super-effective against Lucario and Scizor.
Also, a half-hearted attempt to counter Gengar.
Barbara (Snorlax) (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
Sort of my sixth wheel. I chose this Pokemon out of trying to maintain a good balance of type weaknesses on my team. She's for switching into special attacks, but I'm not sure how effective she is at that. However, this is notably my only real counter against Gengar. I originally had this Pokemon as Curselax, but that had really bad type coverage.
--
Well, that's about it. I hope the descriptions are ok, because it would be such a shame to have this thread locked after all the time I spent oun it.
